Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here with a classic episode from the podcast archives. Today's question has been taken both scientifically and philosophically. Why can't we taste our own tongues? Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel bomb here. It may seem like a ridiculous question at first, but it's actually a mind bender. Why can't you taste your tongue? A thirteenth century Indian mystic Danna sch war even used it in contemplation on
the very nature of being. Along with its fellow sense organs of eyes, ears, nose, and skin, the tongue serves as one of the primary ways we experience the world and form a working model of it. The same riddle is frequently applied to the eye. Though we can certainly see our own eyes and reflections, we can feel our own skin, though, of course, the tip of your left index finger can't touch itself and the ear cannot hear itself,
But either does it make a sound. The tongue, however, looks in our mouth like a layered beast, flip flopping its way through our daily conversations, tasting our food and occasionally dislodging a little bit of it from our teeth. Perhaps we're more inclined to ponder the mystery of the tongue due to its hidden nature or the many lingering myths regarding its functionality. Tongue rolling, for instance, is not the simple genetic trait that we often chalk it up
to be. Nor is the tongue our strongest muscle, and while we're at it, it's a collection of muscles. Neither is the tongue laid out like a simple map with different zones for sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. One of the biggest misconceptions about the tongue, however, is that it rules alone in its governance of flavor sensations. The receptor cells in our taste buds certainly carry out the chemical sensation of taste, but they're located on the bumpy external
surface of our tongue. They're not able to turn those powers inward on themselves. They collect tactile and thermal details about any morsel that enters their domain. But the brain also depends upon your sense of smell to interpret flavor, So the tongue is not alone in its taste mission. Your tongue can taste food or the remnants of food in your mouth. Accidentally bite your tongue and you can
taste the blood trickling out of its own wound. Fun fact, all that saliva and those blood vessels in your mouth seem to allow for quick healing. You can also taste your own saliva. And who hasn't had a bad taste in their mouth, whether from some aggressive garlic or an underlying medical condition. And yes, lovebirds, you can pick up on all these sensations during an open mouth kiss, but you'll still find yourself at pains to taste an actual
living tongue. Psychologists also talk about the conception of habituation, or the idea that if a stimulus is presented often enough or for long enough, we learn to ignore it. Like that scent you sprits on before you leave the house that everyone but you can still smell later on in the day. The inability to taste our tongues could be an example of that phenomenon. In any case, we may not be able to taste our tongues for several reasons, but don't let that stand in the way of a
little mystic naval gazing. Today's episode is based on the article why Can't You Taste your Tongue on how stuffworks dot com written by Robert Lamb. Brain Stuff is production of I heart Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.