Ask the Mountie
why do people like or dislike the taste or consistency of certain foods?
Other than cultural differences, ethical, religious reasons and other group differences - but on an individual level - why do people like or dislike the taste or consistency of certain foods and others don't?
Daisy
Dear Daisy
The tongue is a vascular, thick solid mass of voluntary muscle surrounded by a mucous membrane (epithelium tissue).
On the surface of the tongue are rough projections called papillae. They provide the tongue with friction in handling food and also act as taste buds.
Each taste bud contains 50-100 taste cells, connected, through a synapse, to a sensory neuron leading back to the brain.
The taste information is relayed both to the somatosensory cortex in the brain, allowing for the conscious perception of taste and to the hypothalamus, amygdala and insula, giving the so-called "affective" component of taste. This is responsible for the behavioural response, e.g. aversion, gastric secretion and feeding behaviour.
I hope this science babble has sufficiently distracted you from me not answering your question in a satisfactory manner.
Yours Truly
Mr Mountie
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