Taste and Smell

Question 1

Other terms for taste and smell

Answer 1

Gustation and olfaction

Question 2

3 types of papillae and where are they found

Answer 2

Fungiform (entire surface, mostly anterior part)
Vallate (near the back of the tounge)
Foliate (postereolateral surface)

Question 3

2 major cell types in taste buds

Answer 3

Gustatory epithelial cells

Basal epithelial cells

Question 4

Gustatory epithelial cells

Answer 4

Contain long microvilli that extend through a taste pore to the surface of the epithelium
Innervated receptor cells
Short life span of 1-2 weeks

Question 5

Basal epithelial cells

Answer 5

Replace the gustatory epithelial cells

Question 6

3 nerves the taste information reaches the cerebral cortex through

Answer 6

Facial (7)
Glossopharyngeal (9)
Vagus (10)
Mostly the first 2

Question 7

Taste pathway

Answer 7

From taste buds through 1 of the three nerves, synapse in the solitary nucleus in the medulla, then thalamus, and ultimately to the gustatory area of the cerebral cortex in the insula

Question 8

What type of epithelium is olfactory epithelium

Answer 8

Pseudostratified epithelium

Question 9

3 main cell types in olfactory epithelium

Answer 9

Olfactory sensory neurons
Supporting epithelial cells
Olfactory stem cells

Question 10

Function of mucus in nasal cavity

Answer 10

Mucus captures and dissolves odor molecules

Question 11

Olfaction pathway

Answer 11

Axons of olfactory sensory neurons gather into bundles called filaments of the olfactory nerve, which then penetrate the cribiform plate of the ethmoid bone, enter the olfactory bulbs, synapse with the mitral cells, transmit impulses along olfactory tract to limbic system and piriform lobe of the cerebral cortex

Question 12

What is special about the olfactory system?

Answer 12

No stop in the thalamus!