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These are located on top of the taste receptor cells that constitute the taste buds. The taste receptor cells send information detected by clusters of various receptors and ion channels to the gustatory areas of the brain via the seventh, ninth and tenth cranial nerves. On average, the human tongue has 2,000–8,000 taste buds. [2]
The lingual nerve supplies general somatic afferent (i.e. general sensory) innervation to the mucous membrane of the anterior two-thirds of the tongue (i.e. body of tongue) (whereas the posterior one-third (i.e. root of tongue) is innervated via the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX) [citation needed]), the floor of the oral cavity, and the mandibular/inferior lingual gingiva.
Beyond the papillae, taste receptors are also in the palate and early parts of the digestive system like the larynx and upper esophagus. There are three cranial nerves that innervate the tongue; the vagus nerve, glossopharyngeal nerve, and the facial nerve.
The tongue is a muscular organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for chewing and swallowing as part of the digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surface (dorsum) is covered by taste buds housed in numerous lingual papillae.
Distributed throughout the dorsal epithelium of the tongue, soft palate, pharynx, and upper part of the esophagus are taste buds that contain taste cells, which are peripheral receptors involved in gustatory system and react to chemical stimuli. [3] Different sections of the tongue are innervated with the three cranial nerves.
Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth reacts chemically with taste receptor cells located on taste buds in the oral cavity, mostly on the tongue. Taste, along with the sense of smell and trigeminal nerve stimulation (registering texture, pain, and temperature), determines flavors of food and other substances.
Like the olfactory system, the taste system is defined by its specialized peripheral receptors and central pathways that relay and process taste information.Peripheral taste receptors are found on the upper surface of the tongue, soft palate, pharynx, and the upper part of the esophagus.
The lingual branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve innervates the taste buds of the posterior 1/3 of the tongue and provides general sensation to this same area. The neuron cell bodies whose axons form the nerve, are found in the inferior ganglion of the glossopharyngeal nerve.