AboutRalph Salier-Hellendag Expertise Science Fair Judge for many years and experience with robotics, biology, chemistry, industrial processes, metalurgy and metal forming.
Experience Science Fair Judge for many years and have helped several students get to state level competition. Most recently 2 of my students received state level awards and one went on to the nationals in Washington DC.
Education/Credentials BA Archaeology - Anthropology
MA Business Anthropology
Expert: Ralph Salier-Hellendag Date: 6/30/2008 Subject: Does every human taste receptor work differently? Do we enjoy the same kind of taste sensation?
Question I understand no human taste receptor work exactly the same,does all the normal human taste receptor work differently among different people? when we taste the same flavour?
Animals have different taste receptor from us, since we are all human, does it mean our taste receptor produce the same taste sensation? Do we have the same kind of taste receptor in our tongue?
Some people might argue that human have different taste different food....but what if we like the same food? do we have the same tastebud? do we taste the same?
If two person like the same flavour....like sweet, do they share the same taste?
Most people like the taste of burger, fries and sweet stuffs, fastfood....does that mean human have the same preference?
and if human have the same preference over certain flavour, do we taste the same thing?
Beside the level of intensity...Does my "sweet" generally the "sweet"taste by everyone?
Answer Hi Rambo,
I belive that most mammels and many other animals have taste receptors on their toungs. The taste receptors are closely tied to the olfactory bulb in the nose and between the two, the brain recognizes "taste or flavor". The tounge has 4 distict areas for specific types of taste: salty, sweet, bitter and sour. I'm not sure if all animal toungs have all four but I think they do.
As for the question do we all taste the same thing when we try something like vanilla ice cream. I believe that our preception of taste will be similar but I'm not sure that it is identical. Some people have damaged taste buds or olfactory (Smell) ability so what they taste will be different from others. For instance some people like the flavor of licorice but others do not. Some can't even taste the licorice flavor!
In humans, the taste buds are replaced every 5 to 8 years and what we liked may change radically. In other words what we liked one day we may decide we don't like the next. This is because of the nature of the way the taste buds work in combination with the olfactory (smell senses).
Your sweet, sour, bitter, or salty will be similar to others sweet, sour, bitter or salty depending on how healthy your tounge and olfactory bulb is and how healthy you are generally since illness can alter how your body senses these flavors.
