A Bad Map

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           One image which unfortunately stuck with me from my time in elementary school was the “Tongue Map” from health class. For the uninitiated, the tongue map is a graphical representation of where the different “flavor receptors” are located on your tongue. This image sections of bitterness, sweetness, saltiness, and sourness, and clearly illustrates the idea that humans use one part of their tongue to experience a specific flavor. However, the science behind this illustration that has so captured the publics imagination is false. Apparently the confusion began as a result of a study performed in 1901 by David P Hänig. His study revealed that certain parts of the tongue were more sensitive than others to specific flavors such as salt or umami. While this element was scientifically sound, the diagram he put out to accompany his findings seemed to highlight different regions of the tongue as responsible for handling specific flavors. Additionally, the regions demonstrated in the graphic were not reinforced by empirical measurements. From this discrepancy, many incorrect assumptions have been made about the way human beings understand our sense of taste. I wanted to examine this phenomena more closely and research about what the origins of this popular myth were. Additionally, having read Savoring Disgust and now considering all the gross tastes humans relish, the tongue map makes even less sense. I have not seen in my research a single variation that mentions unpleasant tastes, such as those associated with mold or decay.

Photo Credit: 
https://public-media.smithsonianmag.com/filer/54/f1/54f11932-0955-4f6f-86df-63b13d8f65fc/image-20150703-11301-1v6p8ii.png, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/neat-and-tidy-map-tastes-tongue-you-learned-school-all-wrong-180963407/

Article:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/neat-and-tidy-map-tastes-tongue-you-learned-school-all-wrong-180963407/

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