Topic 8: Smell and taste — chemical senses

Olfactory system

The sensory system responsible for detecting and processing smells.

Olfaction

The sense of smell, which begins when airborne chemicals stimulate receptors in the nose.

Olfactory bulbs

Brain structures that receive smell information from the olfactory receptors and help process it.

Pheromones

Chemical signals released by organisms that can affect the behavior or physiology of other members of the same species; their effects in humans remain debated.

Gustation

The sense of taste, produced when chemicals stimulate taste receptor cells.

Taste receptors

Specialized receptor cells that detect chemicals in food and send taste information to the brain.

Taste sensations

The basic taste qualities: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami, and oleogustus.

Sweet

A taste commonly associated with sugars and other substances that can provide energy.

Sour

A taste associated with acids.

Salty

A taste associated with salts and ions such as sodium.

Bitter

A taste associated with many potentially harmful substances, although not all bitter substances are dangerous.

Umami

A savory taste associated with glutamate and certain amino acids.

Oleogustus

The proposed basic taste associated with the detection of certain free fatty acids.

Supertasters

People who experience certain tastes, especially bitterness, more intensely than average.

Medium tasters

People whose taste sensitivity falls between that of supertasters and nontasters.

Nontasters

People who experience certain tastes, especially some bitter compounds, less intensely than supertasters.