Question

When a tastant enters the mouth, what are all the structures it passes on its way to

Answer 1

The information given about taste and the tongue is explained below.

How to explain the tongue?

The food enters the mouth passing the TOT (tip) of the tongue. It is moved around by the motion of the tongue and teeth as the food is chewed. Its movement is facilitated by the taste buds on the tongue which are jagged, aiding in their ability to move food.

Fungiform papillae on the side of the tongue and filiform papillae located on the dorsal surface of the tongue come in contact with the tastant.

Both types of papillae have taste buds that have receptors for individual tastes -sweet, sour, salty umami (savory), and bitter. Once a tastant is bound to the receptor it creates a signal that travels through one of the three carnival nerves depending on the location of the taste buds. For taste buds located on the front of the tongue, the signal travels through the facial nerve.

For taste buds located in the middle of the back of the tongue, signals travel through the glossopharyngeal nerve. The signals travel to the nucleus of the solitary tract of the brainstem, where they are relayed to the thalamus for higher processing.

Learn more about tongue on:

brainly.com/question/480853

#SPJ1