Sense of taste. Taste sensations

In a wise fairy tale French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery, A little prince”, one of the heroes exclaims: “There is no perfection in the world!” The pessimism of this hero can be shared in some ways - imperfection as a phenomenon is especially pronounced in our tastes.

What is taste?

Vladimir Dal explains its meaning in this way: “... relish, one of the five external senses ... for recognizing certain properties of food, such as: sweetness, acid, saltiness, freshness, etc. In another meaning: the very property of the variety of food and objects tasted in the language.”

A more precise definition is given in explanatory dictionary Russian language, ed. Professor D. N. Ushakov: "The sensation that occurs when the mucous membrane of the tongue is irritated by soluble substances, the quality of food, assessed by the sensations it produces."

For the first time, Anthele Brillat-Savarin made an attempt to scientifically substantiate the psychology of taste in his well-known book The Psychology of Taste (Paris, 1825). In it, he defines taste, writes about the intricacies of gastronomy, talks about famous gourmets of the past, analyzes the emotions that a person receives from the act of eating.

A significant contribution to understanding the chemical nature of taste was made by M. V. Lomonosov. He owns the right to establish a scientific classification of tastes. On this occasion, he wrote: “The main of the more distinct taste sensations are: the taste is sour, as in vinegar; caustic, as in spirit of wine; sweet as in honey; bitter as in pitch; salty, as in salt; sharp, as in wild radish; sour, as in unripe fruits.

Palette of taste

A true scientific explanation of taste sensations was given in the last century, during the rapid development of biochemistry. It has been established that a person distinguishes tastes with his tongue, while the physiology of taste analyzers, the arrangement of the organs of taste, the process of the appearance of taste sensations are based on chemical processes.

The intensity of the sour sensation is due to the presence of acids and depends on the concentration of both hydrogen ions and anions. Only sodium chloride is salty in its pure form, no other chlorides and no other sodium salts give such a sensation. Sweet are sugars, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, amides, esters, amino acids, as well as some salts of beryllium and lead.

The bitter taste is represented by a wide variety of substances - these are salts of potassium, magnesium, ammonium, as well as organic compounds- quinine, caffeine, strychnine, nicotine.

Chemical analyzer

The organ of taste (tongue) is a chemical analyzer. The mechanism of its functioning is that a substance dissolved in water or saliva penetrates through the taste pores to the bulbs, in which chemical irritations are converted into nerve impulses that are transmitted along the nerve fibers to the central nervous system.

The main human taste organ is taste buds (bulbs) located on the papillae of the tongue and partly on the soft palate and posterior pharyngeal wall. There are several types of papillae. First type- groove-shaped papillae, they are arranged in two symmetrical rows converging to the root of the tongue. They are responsible for the bitter taste. There are 300 to 5000 taste buds in each grooved papilla (there are 6 to 16 in humans).

Second type- mushroom-shaped papillae (about 350-400) at the tip in the back of the tongue, each with 2-3 taste buds. Taste receptors located on the tip of the tongue are thought to be responsible for sweet tastes, on the lateral edges of the front of the tongue for salty tastes, and on the lateral edges of the back of the tongue for sour tastes.

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Third type- foliate papillae. They are located on the lateral surfaces of the tongue, are well developed in children, and are reduced with age. Their height reaches 2-5 mm.

Taste buds consist of receptor cells that perceive taste irritation, as well as supporting cells. From the receptor cells located at the bottom of the cone, branched taste brushes depart. The entire space between the taste buds is filled with a special substance consisting of amino acids, mucopolysaccharides, etc. The substance contains a protein that can react with sugars, and enzymes that change their activity under the influence of flavoring substances. Enzymes react with taste substances, resulting in an electrical impulse that is perceived by the nerve endings and transmitted to the brain, where this impulse (signal) is converted into taste perception.

Nerve impulses originating in receptor cells and transmitted to the brain are converted there into sensations, and these sensations and their emotional coloring can be of a purely individual nature.

By the way, taste buds are subject to rapid death and neoplasm. With age, the number of taste buds can decrease by 2-3 times, which leads to a strong decrease in taste sensations.

The long history of taste analyzer research, oddly enough, still contains many misconceptions - many books on physiology repeat the “taste map” of the tongue, which, however, has no scientific confirmation.

Why are onions hot?

The situation is more complicated with the emotional evaluation of taste sensations. It is not in vain that they say: “There is no arguing about tastes”, - what one likes, others disgust. Perception depends on many reasons, and above all on eating habits.

It is generally accepted that there are four basic tastes in nature: sweet, bitter, salty and sour. As for the astringent taste, strictly speaking, its sensation is perceived not by the organs of taste, but by the proteins of the mucous membrane and epithelium, which, under the action of tannins, thicken and squeeze the tactile (textile) receptors. So the astringent taste of tea, for example, is not actually a taste, but a tactile sensation. The burning taste of radish, pepper, onion, horseradish is the pain that occurs when the receptors are irritated.

The spectrum of taste sensations is not limited to the four main tastes. Thanks to their combination, complex taste sensations arise. There are so many combinations of tastes in nature that it is almost impossible to distinguish between taste sensations and olfactory ones. Their combination is often perceived precisely as the taste of a particular product: parsley, celery, carrots, apples, etc. Therefore, when you need to evaluate a purely taste perception, you should pinch your nose and taste the dish or product. So, if you chew a slice of raw onion, you can immediately feel a very sharp, burning taste, and if you first pinch your nose tightly, refraining from breathing movements, then the onion will taste sweet.

Tastes combine according to their own laws. It is easy to combine, say, sour and salty tastes (fermented foods, sour-salty sauces), sweet and salty tastes (salt and sugar), sour and sweet ( sweet and sour sauces, borscht); more difficult to combine bitter and sweet tastes; almost no combination of bitter and salty, bitter and sour tastes.

The role of saliva

In order for the receptors of the taste analyzer to come into a state of excitation under the influence of gustatory substances and for the effect of gustatory sensation to arise, it is necessary that the gustatory substance be on the surface of the tongue in a dissolved state. If, for example, the surface of the tongue is dried with filtered paper and then a piece of sugar is placed on it, then we will not feel any taste.

The taste of the product in the mouth is difficult to determine if the mouth is not moistened with saliva. The more carefully the food is chewed and moistened with saliva, the more accurately the fullness of taste sensations can be determined. The role of saliva in the occurrence of taste sensations is significant: it promotes the excitation of taste buds and, as a solvent, washes away the remnants of taste substances from the surface of the tongue. Thanks to this, a person can consistently experience several taste sensations within 30-60 seconds.

Feeling of food

The duration of taste sensations depends on the nature of the substance. The shortest duration sensation is the sensation of salinity, then the sensations of sweetness, acidity and bitterness come in succession with increasing duration. The feeling of bitterness is especially long-lasting and occurs more slowly than others.

The taste sensitivity of receptor cells is simply amazing. Taste sensations already arise at concentrations of sugar - 0.01 mol / m3, sodium chloride - 0.05 mol / m3, of hydrochloric acid- 0.0007 mol / m³, quinine hydrochloride - 0.0000001 mol / m³. The speed of response of the taste apparatus is different. So, most of all a person reacts to salty, then to sweet, then to sour and, finally, to bitter.

aftertaste

There are patterns in the perception of taste. For example, many have had to deal with the fact that after eating, the nature of taste sensations remains in the mouth for some time, and then suddenly changes by itself, a new, secondary taste sensation arises (it is sometimes called "aftertaste" or "residual taste").

It should be noted that all food products have a secondary taste. If the secondary taste is the same and quickly disappears after swallowing a piece of the product, this indicates its high quality. If, after swallowing a product with a good chemical composition, a secondary taste remains in the mouth for a long time, then such a product has low consumer properties.

Why eat soup?

Another curious phenomenon is taste adaptation, which can be both long-term and short-term. It is known that after a very sweet dish, other sweet dishes will seem less sweet; after a salty snack, a moderately salty soup will always seem unsalted. This circumstance should be taken into account when compiling diets.

According to the teachings of IP Pavlov, the order of eating should be as follows: first comes a snack, designed to stimulate appetite. The so-called capital meal begins with a hot meal, which is usually represented by meat or fish broth (broth, cabbage soup, borscht, potato soup); and only after him comes the nutritional department of food itself - meat or fish in different types, cereals, etc.

The fat of meat or fish is a strong chemical causative agent of the process of secretion of gastric juice, therefore, the use of these fats before the main meal is physiologically justified. Instead of a fat of meat or fish, you can use another chemical pathogen, less strong - kvass.

Fifth taste

Umami is the fifth taste traditionally used in Chinese culture and in other countries of the East. It is the name given to the taste sensation produced by free amino acids, specifically glutamine, which can be found in fermented and aged foods such as Parmesan and Roquefort cheeses, soy and fish sauces. They are also found in a large number of non-fermented foods, such as walnuts, grapes, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms, and to a lesser extent in meat.

taste disorders

Dysgeusia (taste disorder) occurs for various reasons - pregnancy, diabetes, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract or oral cavity, anemia, hypothyroidism, etc.

Allocate ageusia - the loss of one of the main taste sensations; hypogeusia - weakening of one of the sensations; parageusia, when salty is felt instead of sweet; and phantageusia, when the sensation of a particular taste is observed without obvious physical reasons, for example, in neuroses.

Disorder of perception of taste in cooks is called bridity.

Many medications can alter the sense of taste, with a "metallic taste" being particularly common. The following groups of drugs can be attributed to medicines that change taste sensations: antibacterial, lipid-lowering, sedative and anticonvulsant drugs, anticholinergics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular (ACE inhibitors, calcium antagonists).

The sensation of taste can also change under the influence of radioactive irradiation, in some cases at levels of about 1 R/h.

The article used the materials of the books: “Stories about the secrets of home cooking” (N. I. Kovalev, V. V. Usov, M., 1991), “ Educational and methodical complex in the discipline "sensory analysis of food products" (N. A. Feoktistova, D. A. Vasiliev, Ulyanovsk, 2009).

The human body contains a huge number of receptors that transmit signals to the nervous system different type about stimuli like temperature, touch, pressure, or pain. One of the richest organs in receptors is the tongue, whose purpose is not only to push food down the throat, its initial processing or articulation, but also to determine the taste of food or liquid.

The correct functioning of the receptor is vital for a person, as it allows you to prevent the ingestion of harmful substances and evaluate the quality of the foods you eat.

Types of tongue receptors

The receptors on the tongue can have different specifications: for example, they contain mechanoreceptors and thermoreceptors, the first of which help to assess the consistency of food, and the second - its temperature. However, the main assessment tools contained in the tongue are chemoreceptors, which are responsible for taste detection.

This mechanism for humans, as well as for other mammals, is of great importance, as it allows you to distinguish edible objects from inedible ones, and this determines the success of survival. Taste buds on the surface of the tongue are located in the taste buds (otherwise - papillae), while they are also present on the hard palate and in the pharynx.

Chemoreceptors contain a special complex of proteins that, when interacting with a particular chemical stimulus, change their properties, converting the received signal into a nerve impulse that goes to the brain. Very for a long time scientists believed that there were only four specific tastes that could be detected by the receptors of the tongue:

• sweet;
• bitter;
• sour;
• salty.

There is a fifth type of taste, to which certain receptors in the taste buds respond, and which is called "umami": it characterizes substances with a high content of proteins. Primarily, these include cooked seafood and meats, as well as cheeses, nuts, mushrooms, and some vegetables.

An alternative classification adds tart, minty, burning, alkaline and other tastes to the types mentioned above.

Important! Globally, the taste signal is sent from the tongue to the brain through two nerve channels - facial and glossopharyngeal. Each of them is responsible for its own parts of the tongue: the first - for the front two-thirds, and the second - for the last third.

Receptor function

It would be wrong to believe that only the taste buds of the tongue determine the taste of the product formed in the brain. In the final assessment of the consumed substance, tactile (tactile) and olfactory sensations also take part, the complex of which allows you to highlight the sensations of burning, viscosity, "scratching", astringency, and so on. To simplify the analysis, it is customary to consider only four basic tastes obtained by chemoreceptors.

The sensation of salinity in most cases creates the presence of sodium chloride in the edible substance, commonly called table salt. It is caught by special ion channels in the tongue, which change their action potential - a wave of excitation in a living cell. Salty taste tends to "mix" with sour when their brain evaluates, so in most cases, a person experiencing both tastes at the same time finds it difficult to answer which one is stronger.

The sour taste is directly related to the acidity of the food, determined by the pH parameter. The neutral value of this parameter is the number seven, corresponding to the acidity of human saliva (with slight variations in different directions). Accordingly, a product with a lower pH value is perceived by receptors as acidic, and with a higher one it causes a feeling of "soapiness".

Sweet taste is formed by various sugars, glycerin, some proteins and amino acids. Their definition on the tongue is carried out by the so-called G-proteins located inside the taste buds.

The bitter taste of the tongue is also perceived due to G-proteins in the receptors, and its main purpose, developed during the evolutionary period, is to warn a person about the probable danger of absorbing a particular substance. This is due to the fact that many plant alkaloids that are poisonous to humans have a pronounced bitter taste.

For this reason, artificial bitterness is added to many toxic substances during manufacture to deter those who accidentally or deliberately decide to try them.

Note! Some scientific sources also highlight the taste of water, to which the receptors of the tongue react, transmitting a signal to the fibers of the facial nerve. However, the subjective perception of this taste depends on what taste sensation preceded it.

Early research by German scientists in the 19th century determined which zones of the tongue are responsible for a particular taste: sweetness and saltiness are perceived by the tip of the tongue, acidity by the lateral zones, bitterness by the middle part of the back. This understanding of the "taste map" of the language has become traditional and strengthened in science, but recent data refute this erroneous theory. According to them, all types of taste buds are present in all areas of the tongue, and the only difference is only in the density of their distribution.

taste disorder

For some reason, a person may experience a taste disorder - dysgeusia, which is divided into the following types:

• ageusia;
• parageusia;
• phantageusia;
• hypogeusia.

The latter variety is the most common, and is a taste disorder associated with an aggravation of the tongue receptors. The state of hypogeusia can be short-term or long-term. The main cause of this disorder is damage to the taste buds, but a number of other conditions can affect the formation of the pathology:

We can also talk about the consequences of radiation therapy, the lack of a whole list of vitamin components, the use of drugs and much more. Treatment of hypogeusia directly depends on why the described condition arose. If the reason is the use of drugs, then their dosage is reduced, if paralysis turned out to be the cause, it is necessary to attend to the restoration of the state of the vessels.

Artificial saliva preparations, for example, Hyposalix, can speed up the recovery of tongue receptors. Assign Immunal and other restorative agents designed to strengthen the immune system and improve the functioning of the body.

Taste sensations, like olfactory sensations, are due to the chemical properties of things. As with smells, there is no complete, objective classification for taste sensations.

From the complex of sensations caused by taste substances, four main qualities can be distinguished - salty, sour, sweet and bitter.

Taste sensations are usually accompanied by olfactory sensations, and sometimes also sensations of pressure, heat, cold, and pain. The caustic, astringent, tart taste is due to a whole complex of various sensations. It is this more or less complex complex that usually determines the taste of the food we eat.

Taste sensations arise when soluble and diffusible substances, i.e., substances with a relatively low molecular weight, are exposed to the taste areas. The main taste area is the mucous membrane of the tongue, especially its tip, edges and base; the middle of the tongue and its lower surface are devoid of taste sensitivity.

Different taste regions have different sensitivities to salty, sour, sweet, and bitter sensations. The most sensitive on the tongue: the tip to sweet, the edges to sour, and the base to bitter. Therefore, it is assumed that there are special organs for each of the four basic taste sensations.

The same applies to taste general laws that on other senses, in particular the law of adaptation.

An important role in taste sensations is played by the process of compensation, i.e., the drowning out of some taste sensations (salty) by others (sour). For example, the boundary value established under certain conditions for bitter at 0.004% quinine solutions in the presence of common salt rises to 0.01% quinine solution, and in the presence of hydrochloric acid - up to 0.026%.<...>

Along with compensation in the field of taste sensations, contrast phenomena are also observed. For example, the sensation of the sweet taste of a sugar solution is enhanced by the admixture of a small amount of table salt. Distilled water, after rinsing the mouth with potassium chloride or dilute sulfuric acid, seems distinctly sweet. All these facts testify to the presence in the field of taste of the processes of interaction within even one sense organ. In general, the phenomena of interaction, adaptation, temporary aftereffect of a chemical stimulus, not only adequate, but also inadequate, appear very clearly in the field of taste.

Taste sensations play a significant role in adjusting the emotional state; through the autonomic nervous system, taste, along with smell, affects the thresholds of other receptor systems, such as visual acuity and hearing, the state of skin sensitivity and proprioceptors.

Taste sensations generated by chemicals coming from external environment, affecting vegetative functions, can cause a pleasant or unpleasant emotional background of well-being. The custom of combining festivity with feasts indicates that the practice takes into account the ability of taste sensitivity, associated with the impact on the autonomic nervous system, to influence the sensual tone of general well-being.

The role of taste sensations in the process of eating is determined by the state of need for food. As this need intensifies, the exactingness decreases: a hungry person will eat less tasty food; a well-fed person will be seduced only by what he finds seductive in terms of taste.

Like olfactory sensations associated with effects on the autonomic nervous system, taste sensitivity can also give a variety of more or less sharp and pleasant sensations.<...>Although a normal person with significantly developed social and cultural interests does not live in order to eat, but eats in order to live and work. Therefore, subtle shades of taste sensations in the system of human behavior play a very subordinate role.

HEARING SENSATIONS

The special significance of hearing in humans is associated with the perception of speech and music.

Auditory sensations are a reflection of sound waves affecting the auditory receptor, which are generated by the sounding body and represent a variable condensation and rarefaction of air.

Sound waves have, firstly, different amplitude fluctuations. Under the amplitude of oscillation is meant the greatest deviation of the sounding body from the state of equilibrium or rest. The larger the amplitude of the oscillation, the stronger the sound, and, conversely, the smaller the amplitude, the weaker the sound. The strength of the sound is directly proportional to the square of the amplitude. This force also depends on the distance of the ear from the sound source and on the medium in which the sound propagates. To measure the strength of sound, there are special devices that make it possible to measure it in units of energy.

Sound waves are different, secondly, by frequency or the duration of the oscillation. The wavelength is inversely proportional to the number of oscillations and directly proportional to the period of oscillation of the sound source. Waves different number oscillations of 1 s or during the oscillation period give sounds different in height: waves with high frequency oscillations (and a small oscillation period) are reflected in the form of high sounds, waves with low frequency oscillations (and a large oscillation period) are reflected in the form of low sounds.

The sound waves caused by the sounding body, the sound source, differ, thirdly, form oscillations, i.e., the shape of that periodic curve in which the abscissas are proportional to time, and the ordinates are proportional to the removal of the oscillating point from its equilibrium position. The shape of the vibrations of a sound wave is reflected in the timbre of the sound - that specific quality by which sounds of the same height and strength on different instruments (piano, violin, flute, etc.) differ from each other.

The relationship between the shape of the vibration of a sound wave and the timbre is not unambiguous. If two tones have a different timbre, then we can definitely say that they are caused by vibrations of different shapes, but not vice versa. Tones can have exactly the same timbre, and, however, their form of vibrations can be different. In other words, the waveforms are more varied and numerous than the tones heard by the ear.

Auditory sensations can be evoked as periodical oscillatory processes, and non-periodic with irregularly changing unstable frequency and amplitude of oscillations. The former are reflected in musical sounds, the latter in noises.

The musical sound curve can be decomposed in a purely mathematical way using the Fourier method into separate, superimposed sinusoids. Any sound curve, being a complex oscillation, can be represented as the result of more or less sinusoidal oscillations, with the number of oscillations per second increasing, as a series of integers 1,2,3, 4. The lowest tone, corresponding to 1, is called the main one. It has the same period as the complex sound. The remaining simple tones, which have twice, three times, four times, etc., more frequent vibrations, are called upper harmonic, or partial (partial), or overtones.

All audible sounds are divided into noises and musical sounds. The former reflect non-periodic oscillations of unstable frequency and amplitude, the latter - periodic oscillations. Between musical sounds and there is no noise, however, a sharp edge. The acoustic component of the noise often has a pronounced musical character and contains a variety of tones that are easily picked up by an experienced ear. The whistle of the wind, the squeal of a saw, various hissing noises with high tones included in them are sharply different from the hum and murmur noises characterized by low tones. The absence of a sharp boundary between tones and noises explains the fact that many composers are perfectly able to depict various noises with musical sounds (the babbling of a stream, the buzzing of a spinning wheel in the romances of F. Schubert, the sound of the sea, the clanging of weapons by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, etc. ).

In the sounds of human speech, both noises and musical sounds are also represented.

The main properties of any sound are: 1) his volume 2) height and 3) timbre.

1. Volume. Loudness depends on the strength, or amplitude, of the vibrations of the sound wave. The power of sound and loudness are not equivalent concepts. sound power

objectively characterizes the physical process, regardless of whether it is perceived by the listener or not; loudness - the quality of the perceived sound. If we arrange the volumes of the same sound in the form of a series increasing in the same direction as the strength of the sound, and be guided by the steps of the increase in volume perceived by the ear (with a continuous increase in the strength of the sound), then it turns out that the loudness grows much more slowly than the strength of the sound.

According to the Weber-Fechner law, the loudness of a certain sound will be proportional to the logarithm of the ratio of its strength J to the strength of the same sound at the threshold of hearing J 0:

In this equality, K is a proportionality factor, and L expresses a value characterizing the loudness of a sound whose strength is equal to J; it is commonly referred to as the sound level.

If the proportionality coefficient, which is an arbitrary value, is taken equal to one, then the sound level will be expressed in units called belov:

L = log J / J o B

In practice, it turned out to be more convenient to use units 10 times smaller; These units are called decibels. The coefficient K in this case, obviously, equals 10. Thus:

L = 10 . log J / Jo B

The minimum increase in volume perceived by the human ear is approximately 1dB.<...>

It is known that the Weber-Fechner law loses its force with weak stimuli; therefore, the loudness level of very weak sounds does not quantify their subjective loudness.

According to latest work, when determining the difference threshold, one should take into account the change in the pitch of sounds. For low tones, the volume rises much faster than for high tones.

The quantitative measurement of the loudness directly perceived by our hearing is not as accurate as the auditory estimate of the pitch. However, dynamic designations have long been used in music, which serve to determine the magnitude of loudness in practice. These are the designations: prr(piano-pianissimo), pp(pianissimo), R(piano), tr(mezzo-piano), mf(mezzo forte), ff(fortissimo), fff(forte-fortissimo). Consecutive designations on this scale mean approximately doubling the volume.

A person can, without any preliminary training, evaluate changes in loudness by a certain (small) number of times (by 2, 3, 4 times). In this case, doubling the volume is obtained approximately just with an increase of about 20 dB. Further evaluation of the increase in volume (more than 4 times) is no longer possible. Studies on this issue have given results that are sharply at odds with the Weber-Fechner law. They also showed significant individual differences in assessing loudness doubling.

1 When exposed to sound, the hearing aid undergoes adaptation processes that change its sensitivity. However, in the field of auditory sensations, adaptation is very small and reveals significant individual deviations. The effect of adaptation is especially strong when there is a sudden change in the strength of the sound. This is the so-called contrast effect.

Loudness is usually measured in decibels. S. N. Rzhevkin points out, however, that the decibel scale is not satisfactory for quantifying natural loudness. For example, the noise on a full-speed metro train is estimated at 95 dB, while the ticking of a clock at a distance of 0.5 m is estimated at 30 dB. Thus, on the decibel scale, the ratio is only 3, while for immediate sensation, the first noise is almost immeasurably greater than the second.<... >

2. Height. The pitch of a sound reflects the frequency of the sound wave. Not all sounds are perceived by our ear. Both ultrasonics (sounds with a high frequency) and infrasounds (sounds with very slow vibrations) remain beyond our hearing. The lower limit of hearing in humans is approximately 15 - 19 fluctuations; the upper one is approximately 20,000, and in some people the sensitivity of the ear can give various individual deviations. Both limits are variable, the upper one in particular depending on age; in older people, sensitivity to high tones gradually decreases. In animals, the upper limit of hearing is much higher than in humans; in a dog it goes up to 38,000 Hz (cycles per second).

When exposed to frequencies above 15,000 Hz, the ear becomes much less sensitive; the ability to distinguish pitch is lost. At 19,000 Hz, only sounds that are a million times more intense than at 14,000 Hz are extremely audible. With an increase in the intensity of high-pitched sounds, there is an unpleasant tickling sensation in the ear (touch of sound), and then a feeling of pain. Region auditory perception covers more than 10 octaves and is limited from above by the threshold of touch, from below by the threshold of hearing. Within this area lie all the sounds perceived by the ear of various strengths and heights. The smallest force is required to perceive sounds from 1000 to 3000 Hz. The ear is the most sensitive in this area. G. L. F. Helmholtz pointed out the increased sensitivity of the ear in the region of 2000 - 3000 Hz; he explained this circumstance by his own tone of the tympanic membrane.

The value of the threshold for distinguishing, or the difference threshold, height (according to T. Peer, V. Straub, B. M. Teplov) in the middle octaves for most people is in the range from 6 to 40 cents (a cent is a hundredth of a tempered semitone). The musically gifted children examined by L.V. Blagonadezhina had thresholds of 6-21 cents.

There are actually two height discrimination thresholds: 1) the simple discrimination threshold and 2) the direction threshold (W. Preyer and others). Sometimes, with small differences in pitch, the subject notices a difference in pitch, without, however, being able to tell which of the two sounds is higher.

Pitch, as it is usually perceived in noises and speech sounds, includes two different components - the pitch itself and the timbre characteristic.

In the sounds of a complex composition, the change in pitch is associated with a change in some timbre properties. This is explained by the fact that with an increase in the frequency of oscillations, the number of frequency tones available to our hearing aid inevitably decreases. In noise and speech hearing, these two height components are not differentiated. The isolation of pitch in the proper sense of the word from its timbre components is hallmark musical hearing (B. M. Teplov). It takes place in the process historical development music as a certain type of human activity.

One version of the two-component theory of pitch was developed by F. Brentano, and following him, based on the principle of octave similarity of sounds, G. Reves distinguishes between the quality and lightness of sound. By the quality of sound, he understands such a feature of the pitch, thanks to which we distinguish sounds within an octave. Under lordship - such a feature of its height, which distinguishes the sounds of one octave from the sounds of another. So, all “do” are identical qualitatively, but they are different in lordship. Even K. Stumpf subjected this concept to sharp criticism. Of course, there is an octave similarity (as well as a fifth similarity), but it does not determine any component of pitch.

M. McMayer, K. Stumpf, and especially W. Koehler gave a different interpretation of the two-component theory of height, distinguishing in it the actual height and the timbre characteristic of the height (lightness). However, these researchers (as well as E. A. Maltseva) differentiated the two components of height on a purely phenomenal level: they correlated two different and, in part, even heterogeneous properties of sensation with the same objective characteristic of a sound wave. B. M. Teplov pointed out the objective basis of this phenomenon, which consists in the fact that with an increase in height, the number of partial tones accessible to the ear changes. Therefore, the difference in timbre coloring of sounds of different pitches is actually only in complex sounds; in simple tones, it represents the result of transference.

Due to this relationship between the actual height and timbre coloration, not only various tools differ in their timbre from each other, but also sounds of different pitch on the same instrument differ from each other not only in pitch, but also in timbre coloring. This affects the relationship of various aspects of sound - its pitch and timbre properties.

3. Timbre. Timbre is understood as a special character or coloring of sound, depending on the relationship of its partial tones. Timbre reflects the acoustic composition of a complex sound, i.e., the number, order and relative strength of the partial tones (harmonic and non-harmonic) included in its composition.

According to Helmholtz, timbre depends on which upper harmonic tones are mixed in with the fundamental, and on the relative strength of each of them.

In our auditory sensations, the timbre of a complex sound plays a very significant role. Partial tones (overtones), or, in the terminology of N. A. Garbuzov, upper natural overtones, have great importance also in the perception of harmony.

Timbre, like harmony, reflects the sound, which in its acoustic composition is consonance. Since this consonance is perceived as a single sound without acoustically distinguishing the incoming partial tones in it, the sound composition is reflected in the form of a sound timbre. Since hearing singles out partial tones of a complex sound, a perception of harmony arises. In reality, in the perception of music, there is usually a place for both. The struggle and unity of these two mutually contradictory tendencies is to analyze sound as consonance and perceive consonance as a single sound specific timbre coloration - is an essential aspect of any real perception of music.

Timbre coloring acquires a special richness due to the so-called vibrato(K. Sishore), which gives the sound of the human voice, violin, etc. great emotional expressiveness. Vibrato reflects periodic changes (pulsations) in the pitch and intensity of a sound.

Vibrato plays a significant role in music and singing; it is also represented in speech, especially emotional speech. Since vibrato is present in all peoples and in children, especially musical ones, occurring in them regardless of training and exercise, it is obviously a physiologically conditioned manifestation of emotional tension, a way of expressing feelings.

Vibrato in the human voice as an expression of emotionality has probably existed since there was a sound speech and people use sounds to express their feelings. Vocal vibrato arises as a result of the frequency of contraction of paired muscles, observed during nervous discharge in the activity of various muscles, not only vocal ones. Tension and discharge, expressed in the form of pulsation, are homogeneous with the trembling caused by emotional stress.

There is good vibrato and bad vibrato. Bad vibrato is one in which there is an excess of tension or a violation of the periodicity. Good vibrato is a periodic pulsation that includes a certain pitch, intensity and timbre and gives the impression of a pleasant flexibility, fullness, softness and richness of tone.

The fact that vibrato, being due to changes in pitch and intensity sound is perceived as timbre coloration, again reveals the internal interconnection of the various aspects of sound. When analyzing the pitch, it has already been found that the pitch in its traditional sense, that is, that side of the sound sensation, which is determined by the frequency of vibrations, includes not only the pitch, in the proper sense of the word, but also the timbre component of lightness. Now it turns out that, in turn, in timbre coloration - in vibrato - the height is reflected, as well as the intensity of the sound. Various musical instruments differ from each other in timbre characteristics.<...>

Exhale. Your taste buds recognize only six tastes: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami (“ pleasant taste”) and, surprisingly, the taste of calcium. . The rest is perceived through the nose. If you can avoid smelling food, you won't be able to taste much of it. If you don't really care about the opinions of others, you can cover your nose with a clothespin with the same result.

Drink cold water. Surely you have noticed that the taste of any liquid in hot form is different from its taste in cold form. Why? After all, the liquid is the same. In fact, the cold dulls the sensitivity of the palate, reduces the saturation of the taste. If you can, drink a glass of ice water just before drinking or eating something unpleasant. It is even better if the tasteless drink or food can be chilled before consumption.

Drink strong alcohol. Drinks with a high alcohol content (such as vodka or straight whisky) anesthetize the nose and cauterize the tongue.

Use a mint mouthwash. Take mint extract into your mouth to coat the surface of your tongue. Slightly hold in your mouth, spit it out and rinse your mouth. For the next hour, your taste buds will be of no use.

Identify the taste zones of your tongue. Certain areas of the tongue are more sensitive to certain tastes, but the taste sensations of each person are purely individual. You can figure out how your tongue works by soaking a Q-tip in a liquid representing a certain taste (for example, lemon juice for sour or sugar syrup for sweet), touching various points on the tongue and noticing which tastes "fixes" this or that zone. . By knowing what tastes your tongue is sensitive to, you can avoid certain tastes by preventing food from coming into contact with certain areas of the tongue.

Use a cocktail tube. If the taste you're trying to avoid is in the liquid, use a straw to keep the liquid off your tongue. Yes, in fact, this technique does not dull the taste sensations - it simply excludes the taste buds from the process of drinking liquid. Try to get the liquid immediately into the throat, without spilling into the mouth.

Try "magic fruit". This African berry is entering chemical reaction taste buds and everything tastes sweet to you.

Dry your mouth. All taste sensations are based on chemistry. The taste of food depends on how it reacts with saliva in the mouth. Accordingly, if you dry your mouth with a paper towel, you can reduce the taste sensation to almost nothing. But, do not forget that saliva in the mouth is constantly secreted, so eat immediately after drying your mouth!

Taste sensations are exactly what cannot be clearly defined. Even scientists cannot yet explain all the complexities of this phenomenon. And marketers, in turn, successfully manipulate people with their responses based on taste. In this review, the "ten" little known facts about taste, which will destroy a number of stereotypes.

1. Expensive wine

Certain information can distort a person's ability to taste food and drink. In 2015, in one experiment, volunteers were told they would be given 5 different brands of wine to sample, with prices ranging from £3 to £55 a bottle. In reality, they were given three brands with two different price tags.
Unaware that they were being served cheap wine, the subjects enjoyed the wine as if it were truly delicious and refined. The belief that a quality drink was poured into a glass was enough to change people's neurological chemistry. Incredibly, the brain formed a person's taste in accordance with his expectation of the cost of the product.
Price was not the only factor capable of rewiring the brain in this way. The researchers also found that consumers spend more money on heavy bottles and that alcoholic drinks it is best to sell in heavier glass - all because the brain associates weight with quality.

2. "Bloody Mary"

In 2013, the German airline Lufthansa noticed something strange on its aircraft that was not normally seen on the ground. During the flight, passengers very often ordered tomato juice, drinking about 1.8 million liters annually. In fact, Bloody Mary was no less popular among the Germans than beer.
This unusual phenomenon even affected those who would normally never drink tomato juice. During the experiment, Bloody Mary was served to passengers in an airplane that was on the ground. Passengers said the drink had a "stale taste". However, during simulated flight conditions, the popularity bloody mary grew a lot again.
Now passengers claimed that she had a "pleasant fruity aftertaste." The culprit of this is the human mind and its sense of taste. The sound of an airplane, low humidity, and cabin pressure cause the mind to “pick up” a tastier flavor for a drink.

3. Treating depression

Taste is closely intertwined with emotions. Anxiety and depression, for example, cause scents to become dull. There is evidence that the blues interfere with determining how fatty a food or even milk is. But the taste itself can help people suffering from depression and anxiety get better treatment.
When healthy volunteers were given antidepressants that contain certain neurotransmitters, they had an increased ability to detect bitterness, sweetness, and acidity. This indicates a chemical imbalance in people who have a dull taste due to bad emotions. Since their anxiety or depression is not related to the imbalance, talking therapy may be more successful than pills.
Thus, a simple taste test can result in people not being prescribed drugs they don't need. Incredibly, the researchers found that antidepressants worked with chemical transmitters in the taste buds long before they reached the brain.

4. Sixth taste

Scientists once claimed that the human palate could only detect four tastes. The appearance of umami has proved this concept wrong. Some scientists believe that there may even be a sixth taste. In fact, seven tastes claim to be recognized today. For example, mice have two receptors that sense a "chalky" taste or a "calcium taste." One of these exists in human language, but its association with the chalky taste remains unproven.
Japanese researchers believe that the calcium receptor is responsible for another yet unrecognized taste called kokumi ("hearty"). They claim that the compounds in yeast and fish milt improve food products. Western scientists have yet to test this. They also emit burning (spicy) and cooling tastes that convince the brain of false temperatures. Some believe that these are physical feelings, not tastes.
Two more conflicting theories claim that there is a taste of fat and a metallic taste. The most unusual, but perhaps the most reasonable candidate for new taste is carbon dioxide, which gives fizz to carbonated drinks. Climbers take acetazolamide, an altitude sickness drug that inhibits enzymes. This may be why climbers report no tongue tingling when consuming carbonated drinks.

5. "Thermal tasters"

Each person has purely individual taste buds that are not repeated in other people, like fingerprints. However, most of the population belongs to the group that experiences the same basic tastes with approximately the same intensity. But for a small percentage of people, things are much stranger. There are "thermal tasters" who identify cold foods as sour and hot foods as sweet.
Some people are genetically sensitive to coriander. For them, it tastes like soap. There are also two extremes: "tasteless", who have few taste buds and most of their food is bland, and "supertasters", who have twice as many taste buds as the majority of the population.

For them, the real curse is the bitter taste, but they enjoy sweeter sugar and saltier sodium. About 25 percent of people are "supertasters," but most agree that it can be frustrating. Their pronounced ability to detect the smallest flavors makes them less prone to consuming alcohol, rich desserts, and vegetables (in particular, broccoli is unbearably bitter for supertasters).

6. Water

Almost everyone would agree that water has no taste. If so, this is usually due to chemicals in the tap water or the aftertaste of the bottle. Scientists do not agree with this statement. If water is indeed devoid of taste, then certain drinking habits in animals should not be observed.
Because water is critical to survival, living organisms must identify it by smell and taste. Indeed, water-determining cells exist in amphibians and insects. There are indications that such cells may also exist in mammals. When an animal is thirsty, this sensation is triggered by the brain's hypothalamus. The same organ also signals when to stop drinking.
But most animals stop long before the gut signals to the brain that it feels full. The only explanation is that the mouth and tongue send messages to the brain. To do this, the taste buds must somehow be able to detect the taste of water. Obviously, the human brain also reacts to water.

7. Intestine

It may seem incredible, but there are taste buds in the human gut. However, they are different from those located on the tongue. The latter tell the brain about the taste of what is in the mouth. If it tastes good, the person swallows. Food reaches the intestines, where receptors do not determine the taste of food, but hunger or satiety.
Once the brain "tastes" that something is in the gut, it triggers the release of hormones to convert the food into energy in the tract. This maintains blood sugar levels. In this sense, taste buds in the gut play an important role in health.
If they are wrong, it can cause weight gain, or worse, a disorder in glucose absorption, potentially leading to type 2 diabetes. In the future, a better understanding of gut receptors may be Starting point to control blood glucose levels and obesity.

8. "Sunsepalum Dulcificum"

small red berry West Africa makes the vinegar taste like liquid sugar. Ironically, the so-called "wonder berry" has a bland and inexpressive taste. But after eating this berry, any sour food will be perceived as very sweet. Berries contain miraculin, a protein that coats sweet taste receptors on the tongue.
When the mouth is neutral (neither alkaline nor acidic), miraculin blocks other sweeteners from attaching to the receptors. That is why the berry's own taste is so insipid. But when an acidic environment appears in the mouth, the protein "steals" a few protons, changes shape and distorts the sweet receptors. They become hypersensitive and produce insane results.
This phenomenon is not unique to miracle berries. The Malaysian lumba plant does the same trick, thanks to a protein called neoculin. Interestingly, neoculin and miraculin have nothing in common and are completely different at the molecular level. In addition, each is attached to various parts receptors, but do the same thing.

9. Aroma

Recently, scientists have been working with older people and patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Both cancer treatment and aging can cause a severe loss of the ability to recognize taste. The researchers' approach was innovative and creative. They used cutlery that practically enhances the flavor of the food.
They invented the cup, which can enhance the intensity of drinks, and the smart spoon, which can create or complement the flavors of food. On the handles of the cup and spoon there is a button that can reduce or increase the acidity, bitterness and saltiness.
Using tiny silver electrodes, flavors are produced by stimulating taste buds with electrical impulses while eating or drinking. In addition to improving a meal or restoring taste, the technology also shows promise in another area. The developers believe that people may someday experience the fullness of taste in a virtual environment.

10. Synesthetes

It may sound like fiction, but there are people who can taste the words. They even have a name - synesthetes. In people with synesthesia, senses such as sight and hearing, touch and taste are confused and mixed up. The rarest of these unusual people- speech tasters. When testing, they even tasted even the names of objects unknown to them.
Years later, subjects recalled the scent of each item. This 100 percent accuracy is what sets synesthetes apart. Many synesthetes also describe the same word in a similar way. This led researchers to speculate that certain sounds in the word, rather than the word itself, evoked the taste.