Compare and contrast the transduction process for taste and olfaction. Include the following in your answer : papillae, taste cells, taste bud, tastant, olfactory neurons, G protein, odorant, mitral cells, and second messenger

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

For both taste and smell, chemicals from the external environment bind with specialized cells that respond in a way that results in action potentials being sent to the brain. The tongue contains taste buds that contain taste cells, and these cells respond to taste-provoking chemicals called tastants. Binding of a tastant to a taste cell receptor activates a G protein in the cell's membrane, which in turn activates a second messenger system to cause depolarization of the taste cell. The taste cell releases a neurotransmitter that depolarizes terminal endings of afferent neurons, which conduct action potentials to the brain for perception of taste. Odorants are chemicals that bind directly to olfactory neurons, which then depolarize and conduct action potentials to the olfactory bulb. In the olfactory bulb, the action potentials are transferred to mitral cells, which then conduct them to the brain for interpretation.