Final answer:
The statement that people experience certain tastes on different areas of the tongue is false; all five basic taste sensations can be detected across the entire tongue.
Step-by-step explanation:
The notion that different regions of the tongue are responsible for specific tastes is false. Modern research indicates that all taste sensations can be detected across all areas of the tongue where taste buds are present. Taste buds are found within structures called papillae, which are small bumps on the tongue. Different types of papillae, such as fungiform, foliate, and circumvallate, contain taste buds and are distributed on various parts of the tongue.
Each taste bud has gustatory receptor cells which respond to different types of chemicals dissolved in saliva. These five basic taste sensations are sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Food molecules, or tastants, stimulate the receptors on the microvilli of these cells, and do not activate only in specific zones, as previously thought. Instead, the entire tongue has the potential to detect each type of taste with receptors for tastants located across various regions. The myth of a tongue map with segregated taste zones has been debunked by scientific research, including studies conducted at the Monell Chemical Senses Center.