How Much Do You Know About Your Tongue?
How many muscles make up your tongue?
1
8
25
How many muscles make up your tongue?
It looks like it’s one big muscle, but your tongue is actually a bundle of four that help it change shape, and four more that move it around. All eight are grouped into one big happy tongue family by a mucous membrane.
How many taste buds call your tongue home?
50-100
5,000-10,000
50,000-100,000
How many taste buds call your tongue home?
The bumps you see and feel on your tongue aren’t taste buds -- they’re called papillae. Just one papilla can have several thousand taste buds inside it. You can also find buds on the inside of your cheeks, the back of your throat, and other parts of your mouth.
How often do your taste buds replace themselves?
Every day
Every 2 weeks
Never -- you have one set for a lifetime
How often do your taste buds replace themselves?
Their life cycle is about 14 days. This means that every day, about 10% of the taste buds on your tongue are hit with new flavors for the very first time.
Does your sense of taste change as you get older?
No, it stays about the same.
Yes, it gets stronger.
Yes, it gets weaker.
Does your sense of taste change as you get older?
As you age, some of your taste buds stop replacing themselves. That means older adults have only about 5,000 working ones -- that’s roughly half the number kids have.
Which of these is not a taste your tongue can detect?
Savory
Bitter
Spicy
Which of these is not a taste your tongue can detect?
Science has named five official tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami (savory). Spicy isn’t a taste -- it’s a pain signal. You may think food tastes spicy, but it’s how the nerves in your tongue tell your brain there’s pain and heat in your mouth.
True or false: Your taste buds are grouped in “zones” for different flavors.
True
False
True or false: Your taste buds are grouped in “zones” for different flavors.
The sides of your tongue are more sensitive to flavor than the middle, but every part of your tongue can taste all five flavors equally.
Which of these is not an actual tongue condition?
Hairy tongue
Scrotal tongue
Broken tongue
Which of these is not an actual tongue condition?
The hairy type is a harmless buildup of keratin -- the stuff that hair is made of -- on top of your tongue. You get it when you don’t clean your mouth well, if you drink too much tea and coffee, or from certain medications. A scrotal or "fissured" tongue looks wrinkly from the deep grooves this condition causes.
People with a heightened sense of taste are called:
Extrasensory tasters
Supertasters
Flavor savants
People with a heightened sense of taste are called:
Supertasters are extra sensitive to flavors -- especially bitter and sweet. They have more taste buds on the front of their tongues than most people. And they're more likely to be women than men.
True or false: You can roll your tongue only if your parents passed the gene for tongue rolling down to you.
True
False
True or false: You can roll your tongue only if your parents passed the gene for tongue rolling down to you.
For years, science teachers used tongue rolling as an example of simple genetics. But in 1952, a study using identical twins showed that there’s no gene for it. Genes do play some role in your level of tongue gymnastics, but practice can also make perfect.
Can you swallow your tongue?
Yes, if it’s very thin.
Yes, during a seizure.
No, it’s impossible.
Can you swallow your tongue?
You couldn’t gulp down your tongue even if you tried. The base is anchored to the bottom of your mouth with a sturdy membrane. So, it’s swallow-proof! (Thank goodness.)