Week 5 - Senses and Stuff
Hey guys... I'm back with another blog!
This week, I will be telling you guys about one of our five senses and how interesting learning more about them can be!
Today, I chose to explore our sense of TASTE! I found an article in which apparently, scientists have discovered a "sixth" sense on our tongues by conducting a lab experiment on a rat. Officially, there are five basic tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami.
After reading the article, I learned a few things, for example, this "sixth" sense on our tongue apparently relates to how mammals use water. This new sense allows mammals to identify water from other liquids, yet scientists are debating whether or not water has a taste of its own.
It is said that a region in the human cortex responds specifically to water. The brain receives information about water from the mouth and tongue to know when they are thirsty and when to stop drinking from replenishment. So neurologists at the California Institute of Technology experimented and searched for water-sensing taste receptor cells (TRCs) in a mouse's tongue by silencing some TRCs and flushing its mouth with water to see which cells responded. They also tested to see if artificially activating these cells could make the mice drink water. After training the mice to drink water from a spout, they replaced the water with a blue light on their tongues. When the mice “drank” the blue light, they acted as though they were tasting water.
Here is a video attached below that basically summarizes the article in short and how the experiment was conducted.
In addition, I decided to test my color vision with this Color Challenge Test and I earned a score of zero, which is the perfect score.
This week, I will be telling you guys about one of our five senses and how interesting learning more about them can be!
Today, I chose to explore our sense of TASTE! I found an article in which apparently, scientists have discovered a "sixth" sense on our tongues by conducting a lab experiment on a rat. Officially, there are five basic tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami.
It is said that a region in the human cortex responds specifically to water. The brain receives information about water from the mouth and tongue to know when they are thirsty and when to stop drinking from replenishment. So neurologists at the California Institute of Technology experimented and searched for water-sensing taste receptor cells (TRCs) in a mouse's tongue by silencing some TRCs and flushing its mouth with water to see which cells responded. They also tested to see if artificially activating these cells could make the mice drink water. After training the mice to drink water from a spout, they replaced the water with a blue light on their tongues. When the mice “drank” the blue light, they acted as though they were tasting water.
Here is a video attached below that basically summarizes the article in short and how the experiment was conducted.
Want to read the article for yourself? Here it is: Scientists Discover a Sixth Sense on the Tongue - for WaterIn addition, I decided to test my color vision with this Color Challenge Test and I earned a score of zero, which is the perfect score.
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