Taste, Smell, Touch, Pain

Taste (Gustation)

Sense that detects chemicals in food.

Taste Buds

Sensory receptors for taste.

Five Basic Tastes

Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.

Umami

Savory taste associated with glutamate.

Smell (Olfaction)

Sense that detects airborne chemicals.

Odorants

Airborne molecules detected by smell receptors.

Olfactory Bulb

Brain structure involved in processing smells.

Pheromones

Chemical signals affecting behavior in members of the same species.

Somatosensation

Sense of touch, temperature, pain, and body position.

Mechanoreceptors

Receptors responding to pressure or touch.

Thermoreceptors

Receptors responding to temperature.

Nociceptors

Pain receptors.

Pain

An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience signaling tissue damage.

Gate-Control Theory

Theory that pain signals can be blocked or amplified in the spinal cord.

Phantom Limb Pain

Pain sensations felt in a missing limb.