Human Anatomy: Part 2 - K. A. Dyubenko, A. K. Kolomiytsev, Yu. B. Chaykovsky 2008

Special Part
Sense Organs, organa sensuum
Organ of Taste

The ORGAN OF TASTE, organum gustatorium, is represented by the Tongue, in the mucous membrane of which taste buds, caliculus gustatorius (gemma gustatoria), are located (Fig. 232 A, B). They are concentrated mainly in the epithelial layer of fungiform, vallate, and foliate papillae. In addition, taste buds are found in the mucous membrane of the Lips, soft palate, and epiglottis. Their total number is about 2,000. A taste bud has an elliptical shape and lies within the thickness of the epithelial layer. At the apex of the bud, There is a taste pore, porus gustatorius, which opens into the cavity of a small pit communicating with The surface of the papilla. Fluid containing dissolved food substances enters this pit, stimulating the chemoreceptor taste Cells, cellulae gustatoriae, of the taste buds. The Cell bodies of the first-order Neurons of the gustatory analyzer are located in the geniculate ganglion of the intermediate nerve and the superior and inferior ganglia of the Glossopharyngeal nerve. The peripheral processes of the neurons of the geniculate ganglion run as part of the chorda tympani to the papillae of the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, while their central processes run within the intermediate nerve into the Brain substance, terminating on the neurons of the Nucleus solitarius. The peripheral processes of the neurons of the superior and inferior ganglia pass to the papillae of the posterior third of the tongue, while their central processes also run to the nucleus solitarius.

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Fig. 232.

A — Taste fields of the mucous membrane of the tongue (diagram); B — Taste bud (diagram)

Axons of the second-order neurons originate from the nucleus solitarius and run as part of the medial lemniscus to the ventral and medial nuclei of the thalamus. Here lie the cell bodies of the third-order neurons, whose fibers reach the cortical end of the gustatory analyzer — the gyrus hippocampi, uncus, and pars opercularis. Not only gustatory, but also tactile and Temperature information from the receptors of the tongue is directed here.