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Science of supertasters
Brussels sprouts - for some people these miniature cabbages are the highlight of their Christmas dinner, others shudder at the mere thought of them. Scientists now know that not all people experience tastes in the same way. This is mainly down to the number of taste buds on your tongue.

The more taste buds you have, the more intensely you perceive tastes, especially bi
Combined senses: Your sense of touch combines your response to touch, pressure, pain and temperature

Function: To inform you about what's happening on the surface of your body
Receptors in your skin

Your skin and deeper tissues contain millions of sensory receptors. Without them, you wouldn't be able to sense and respond to your environment. They register what's happening on your body's su
Function: To protect your body from unsafe foods

Taste buds: Most of your taste buds are on your tongue

Basic tastes: Sweet, salty, sour and bitter
Protecting your body

Your sense of taste protects you from unsafe foods. If you ate poisonous or rotten foods, you would probably spit them out immediately, because they usually taste revolting. That way, you stop them from entering your sto
Function: To relay information to and from your central nervous system

Actions: Your peripheral nerves transmit voluntary and involuntary actions

Sympathetic nervous system: Fight or flight

Parasympathetic nervous system: Rest and digest
Network outside your central nervous system

All the nerves and nerve cells outside your central nervous system make up your peripheral nervous syste
Function: To transmit messages from one part of your body to another

Neurons: Messenger cells in your nervous system

Nerve impulses: Electrical signals carrying messages

Neurotransmitters: Chemicals released by one neuron to excite a neighbouring one
Millions of messengers

Your nervous system contains millions of nerve cells, called neurons. Neurons are highly specialised to transmit
Inner ear: Contains your organs of balance


Other balance sensors: Your eyes and receptors in your muscles and tendons

Spinning head: Occurs when the balance sensors in your ear are disrupted

Rotation of your head
Your second organ of balance detects rotational movements of your head. It consists of three fluid-filled loops that are arranged at right angles to each other. Within each o
Sound: Sounds are vibrations

Ear: Divided into your outer, middle and inner ear

Cochlea: Part of your inner ear, where your actual organ of hearing is located

Locating sounds: Sound reaches your two ears at different times, enabling you to locate its source
Ears, nerves and brain

Your ears are your organs of hearing. In order to hear, however, you also need your cochlear nerves to tr
Tooth decay
There are bacteria in your mouth that multiply when you eat sweet food. As these bacteria feed on food stuck on your teeth, they produce acid. This acid can dissolve enamel and eat through a tooth, right down to the nerve in its pulp cavity. A hole in a tooth like this provides a route for bacteria in your mouth to cause nasty infections in the root of a tooth. This can result in exc
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