All parts of the brain › Taste

What part of the brain controls taste?

The primary taste (gustatory) cortex, in the front of the insula and the nearby frontal operculum, is where taste is consciously perceived. It gets there in three steps: the facial, glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves carry taste from the mouth to the solitary nucleus in the medulla; that nucleus projects to the ventral posteromedial nucleus of the thalamus; and the thalamus projects to the insula, which passes taste on to the orbitofrontal cortex, the secondary taste cortex. [1][2][3][4]

The 3D brain needs JavaScript. The list of parts still says what each one does for taste.

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Taste: 5 parts lit

Insula, orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus, medulla oblongata and pons. Tap one to see where it is and what it does.

The parts and their roles

Its anterior part, with the frontal operculum, is the primary gustatory cortex: neurons here respond to sweet, salty, bitter and sour and code how strong the taste is, and electrical stimulation of the human insula produces taste sensations. [2][5] Where is the insula?
The secondary taste cortex: it receives taste from the insula, about 8% of its neurons respond to taste, some tuned to one taste, and in monkeys those responses fade as the animal eats its fill. [2] Where is the orbitofrontal cortex?
The relay: the medial-most part of its ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM) receives second-order taste fibres from the solitary nucleus and sends third-order neurons to the gustatory cortex. [4][1] Where is the thalamus?
Holds the solitary nucleus, a column of grey matter whose front (rostral) part, the gustatory nucleus, receives taste from the facial, glossopharyngeal and vagus nerves; its rear part handles heart, breathing and gut signals instead. [3][6] Where is the medulla oblongata?
Its medial parabrachial nucleus, at the junction of the pons and midbrain, relays taste from the solitary nucleus to the VPM of the thalamus, and the most pronounced part of the gustatory nucleus sits at the junction of the pons and medulla. [7][6] Where is the pons?

How they work together

Five tastes are recognised: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (savoury, set off by the amino acid L-glutamate); a sixth, for fats, has been proposed but is still debated. [8][9]
There are between 2,000 and 5,000 taste buds on the tongue, with more on the roof, sides and back of the mouth and in the throat; each holds 50 to 100 taste receptor cells. [9]
Three cranial nerves carry taste: the chorda tympani and greater petrosal branches of the facial nerve (VII), the lingual branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve (IX), and the superior laryngeal branch of the vagus nerve (X). All of them end in the solitary nucleus. [2][3]
The taste cortex does more than taste: in rhesus monkeys the insula also responds to the texture (thickness, grittiness) and temperature of food, and the orbitofrontal cortex adds smell and sight, which suggests a role in identifying and choosing food. [5][2]
Honest limit: the solitary nucleus, the parabrachial nucleus and the VPM are small nuclei with no shape of their own on this model, so the whole medulla, pons and thalamus are lit; the frontal operculum half of the primary taste cortex lies on the inferior frontal gyrus, which this page leaves dark; OpenStax describes the route as solitary nucleus straight to the thalamus, while the relay through the parabrachial nucleus in the pons was traced mainly in rodents; and the tongue and taste nerves are outside the model. [1][7][2]

Taste alone is only five qualities; flavour is taste plus smell plus the touch-like trigeminal sense, and the insula and orbitofrontal cortex take part in both. [9][10] What part of the brain controls smell?

Sources

Facts describe anatomy and normal function only. A part lit here takes part in taste; it does not do it alone, and it does other jobs too. The 3D model is the adult male BodyParts3D brain (credits and licence); on it the brainstem includes the midbrain, pons and medulla, so lighting the brainstem lights all three.