[Magdalen] Supertasters and random quiz

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

There is actually a distinct type of taste that some supertasters have.  It
is distinct from sweet, sour, bitter, and uh, whatever else there may be,
aside from that taste.

It comes into play, I am told, in some oriental dishes.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Fri, Sep 11, 2015 at 2:39 PM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Fun neuroscience fact of the day: people have differing amounts of
> tastebuds which is why some are far more sensitive to flavour than others.
>
> An at-home test for how well endowed you are: Apply  a couple of drops of
> blue food color to your tongue and swallow a few times. Then examine
> your tongue's surface; fungiform papillae won't pick up the dye, so they'll
> look like pink polka dots on a blue background. If your tongue appears to
> be almost solid pink, then you have tons of fungiform papillae and may be a
> supertaster.
>
> Maybe that's one for the kids to do - I don't much fancy it!
>
> Also interesting that taste buds (which are buried under those pink polka
> dots) are also found in quite a few other places around the roof of the
> mouth and back of the throat. Complex perceptions of flavour are the work
> of higher brain areas which call on aroma, current emotions, and memory as
> well as taste.
>
> What's the best thing you've ever tasted?
>
> Sally D
>
> <neuroscience maven these days.
>