Why each language is unique and how it influences taste – 01/05/2024 – Science

Longer, shorter, cracked or not, our languages ​​are, at first glance, not that different from each other.

However, a 3D analysis of this complex and sophisticated organ revealed that it is a structure with characteristics as individual as those of our fingerprints.

The differences are not just limited to the number of taste buds —those fleshy protuberances that cover their surface— but also to the shape of these structures.

“From a single papilla, we were able to identify a person with an accuracy of 48% (from a study group of 15 participants)”, explains Rayna Andreeva, doctoral candidate at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and responsible for the study.

Analysis of a single papilla also made it possible to predict a person’s sex and age with moderate accuracy, up to 67% to 75%.

Although still ongoing, notes Andreeva, “our study provides preliminary evidence that (the languages) are very unique.”

The research, carried out in collaboration with scientists at the University of Leeds, in England, was published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.

Texture

According to the study, these unique differences between each language may also be fundamental to understanding why we like some foods and reject others.

People who have, for example, a greater number of fungiform papillae —those that resemble the shape of a mushroom and are distributed mainly on the edges and tip of the tongue— may not like dark chocolate or lemon, because they perceive these foods with much more intensity. .

But what also affects our taste are the papillae that fulfill a mechanical function and allow the tongue to feel the texture and friction of what we eat, says Andreeva.

Therefore, he adds, understanding why we prefer some foods over others can help us choose healthier foods, for example, but with textures that we find more pleasant.

“We believe that flavor is extremely important, and that is true. But the texture of food also gives us a lot of pleasure”, says Andreeva to BBC News Mundo.

And what connection is there between the individuality of each language and diseases? Is it possible to make a diagnosis by studying the shape and distribution of the papillae?

“This is something we will investigate in the next step,” explains Andreeva.

“But we know, for example, that there is an autoimmune disease called Sjögren’s syndrome, in which the shape of one type of papilla (the filiform ones) is flatter.”

Previous studies, he adds, have shown that the shape of these structures is linked to the syndrome.

But to establish the link between a medical condition and language characteristics, more research is needed, reminds Andreeva.