- is called a chemical sense because the stimuli are various chemicals.
On the surface of the tongue are receptors, called taste buds, for five basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami.
The function of taste buds is to perform transduction, which means transforming chemical reactions into nerve impulses.
Chemicals dissolved in the saliva activate the taste buds, which produce nerve impulses that eventually reach areas in the brain’s parietal lobe. The brain transforms these nerve impulses into sensations of taste