Tidbit #8 - April 3, 2011

Food can be one of the most pleasurable aspects of our day. And why? Because we all like the taste. There are entire reality shows (Top Chef, anyone?) based on food and its taste. But not everyone who tastes food knows how we taste it.


Question: How do we taste food?


Answer: If you know anything about the nervous system, then you should know that it's based on nerves. Your senses are caused by nerves, particularly specially made neurotransmitters. Your sense of taste is caused by (what else?) your tongue.

On the surface of your tongue are relatively 9000 different sensory receptors (called taste receptors) that pick up taste, also called taste buds. Different areas of the tongue correspond to different tastes, as shown in the diagram to the left. Speaking definitively, every taste bud on your tongue picks up the different chemicals in the food you eat and sends electrical signals through the neurons to the taste processing center of the brain, causing your food's taste.

By the way, all of those regions on the tongue diagram above which correspond to those tastes send more intense signals to the brain when the food you eat has chemicals that taste that way. (Basically, they taste stronger in those areas of the tongue)

Tidbit #4 - March 30, 2011

Question: What causes someone to forget something?


Answer: Think back to Tidbit #2 (how we make memories). Remember how I wrote that each memory is really a pattern of links between neurons?

My guess is that you forget something if you don't repeat that pattern of neuron links, which means you don't repeat the activity enough.

So, for example, let's say you've learned the formula: sin(2Θ)=2sin(Θ)cos(Θ). That's a lot to remember, right? It's because that's a special pattern of links between neurons in your brain. Every time you say that formula, or think about it, those linked neurons send impulses to each other, causing the formula to be remembered, therefore strengthening the memory.

But if you spend the week on your chemistry homework instead of your math homework, the neuron links will become weaker and weaker, making it harder for you to remember that formula.

If you have any tidbits you'd like to offer, comment on the post with your idea. Who knows? You might get it on the blog.