WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Why Can't I Taste My Tongue? 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here with a classic episode from

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast archives. Today's question has been taken both scientifically

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<v Speaker 1>and philosophically. Why can't we taste our own tongues? Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. It may seem like

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<v Speaker 1>a ridiculous question at first, but it's actually a mind bender.

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<v Speaker 1>Why can't you taste your tongue? A thirteenth century Indian

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<v Speaker 1>mystic Danna sch war even used it in contemplation on

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<v Speaker 1>the very nature of being. Along with its fellow sense

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<v Speaker 1>organs of eyes, ears, nose, and skin, the tongue serves

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<v Speaker 1>as one of the primary ways we experience the world

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<v Speaker 1>and form a working model of it. The same riddle

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<v Speaker 1>is frequently applied to the eye. Though we can certainly

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<v Speaker 1>see our own eyes and reflections, we can feel our

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<v Speaker 1>own skin, though, of course, the tip of your left

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<v Speaker 1>index finger can't touch itself and the ear cannot hear itself,

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<v Speaker 1>But either does it make a sound. The tongue, however,

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<v Speaker 1>looks in our mouth like a layered beast, flip flopping

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<v Speaker 1>its way through our daily conversations, tasting our food and

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<v Speaker 1>occasionally dislodging a little bit of it from our teeth.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps we're more inclined to ponder the mystery of the

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<v Speaker 1>tongue due to its hidden nature or the many lingering

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<v Speaker 1>myths regarding its functionality. Tongue rolling, for instance, is not

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<v Speaker 1>the simple genetic trait that we often chalk it up

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<v Speaker 1>to be. Nor is the tongue our strongest muscle, and

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<v Speaker 1>while we're at it, it's a collection of muscles. Neither

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<v Speaker 1>is the tongue laid out like a simple map with

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<v Speaker 1>different zones for sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. One of

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<v Speaker 1>the biggest misconceptions about the tongue, however, is that it

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<v Speaker 1>rules alone in its governance of flavor sensations. The receptor

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<v Speaker 1>cells in our taste buds certainly carry out the chemical

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<v Speaker 1>sensation of taste, but they're located on the bumpy external

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<v Speaker 1>surface of our tongue. They're not able to turn those

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<v Speaker 1>powers inward on themselves. They collect tactile and thermal details

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<v Speaker 1>about any morsel that enters their domain. But the brain

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<v Speaker 1>also depends upon your sense of smell to interpret flavor,

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<v Speaker 1>So the tongue is not alone in its taste mission.

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<v Speaker 1>Your tongue can taste food or the remnants of food

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<v Speaker 1>in your mouth. Accidentally bite your tongue and you can

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<v Speaker 1>taste the blood trickling out of its own wound. Fun fact,

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<v Speaker 1>all that saliva and those blood vessels in your mouth

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<v Speaker 1>seem to allow for quick healing. You can also taste

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<v Speaker 1>your own saliva. And who hasn't had a bad taste

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<v Speaker 1>in their mouth, whether from some aggressive garlic or an

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<v Speaker 1>underlying medical condition. And yes, lovebirds, you can pick up

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<v Speaker 1>on all these sensations during an open mouth kiss, but

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<v Speaker 1>you'll still find yourself at pains to taste an actual

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<v Speaker 1>living tongue. Psychologists also talk about the conception of habituation,

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<v Speaker 1>or the idea that if a stimulus is presented often

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<v Speaker 1>enough or for long enough, we learn to ignore it.

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<v Speaker 1>Like that scent you sprits on before you leave the

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<v Speaker 1>house that everyone but you can still smell later on

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<v Speaker 1>in the day. The inability to taste our tongues could

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<v Speaker 1>be an example of that phenomenon. In any case, we

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<v Speaker 1>may not be able to taste our tongues for several reasons,

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<v Speaker 1>but don't let that stand in the way of a

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<v Speaker 1>little mystic naval gazing. Today's episode is based on the

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<v Speaker 1>article why Can't You Taste your Tongue on how stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com written by Robert Lamb. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>of I heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works

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<v Speaker 1>dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more

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