Sensory System Series: The Gustatory System
Did you know there are 8 sensory systems?! In the coming weeks, we will be highlighting each sensory system. Learning about each sense can help us understand how our body processes the world around us to help us function more smoothly in our days.
This week we are starting off with the gustatory system as our theme of the month is pediatric dentistry. The gustatory system plays a role in the toothbrushing experience. The flavor of the toothpaste, the texture of the toothbrush, movement of the toothbrush within your mouth, and the temperature of the water. The gustatory system is our sense of taste allowing us to recognize the 5 basic taste sensations: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami. Have you ever put a ripened fruit in your mouth and quickly spit it out? Or take a sip of milk you didn’t know was rotten? Ick. Thank goodness for our taste sensations. They tell us information about the foods we put in our mouths on whether we should eat them or not. Therefore, the gustatory system plays an important role in eating, drinking, and preventing the ingestion of unsafe items. Taste receptors are located on the tongue contributing to the identification of foods along with smell, temperature, and texture.
The mouth, tongue, and taste buds are essential structures in the gustatory system. Receptors are located within taste buds andrespond to chemical messages formed by food being dissolved by salvia. The chemical messages activate sensory nerve fibers transmitting the gustatory input from the mouth to the gustatory cortex in the brain.
Did you know that taste is strongly associated with strong emotions as certain taste sensations influence mood, feelings, and memories?! It is amazing! It has been found that sour, sweet, and salty produce the most brain activity explaining why we associate taste with vivid memories and emotions. Vanilla ice cream reminds me of summer and cherry kool-aid brings back childhood memories!
You may recall your children having specific food preferences, such as disliking a certain texture or taste of food. They may be a “picky eater.” We all vary in how our brain processes gustatory input. A child may be over-responsive (hypersensitive) or under-responsive (hyposensitive). Over-responsivity means one has a larger than expected emotional or behavioral response to sensory input. It takes little input to produce a sensation. Examples of behaviors may include fear, excitability, agitation, restlessness, rigidity, or need for control within the environment. On the other hand, a child may be under-responsive where the child has low arousal where they don’t notice the sensory input and it takes a lot of input to produce a sensation. They may seek intensive sensory input.
Therapeutic Tool Highlight: ARK's Zvibe Oral Motor Starter Kit
ARK’s Z-vibes provide vibrating sensation and are used as an oral motor tool to facilitate oral tone, enhance feeding and speech, as well as provide a sensory experience for increased oral organization, soothing, and calming. We recommend this for kiddos with under-responsivity who seek oral input which can help regulate their bodies regulate for an optimal arousal level.
Children with sensory processing disorder may have challenges filtering and processing gustatory input impacting eating and drinking. Meals can be frustrating for yourself and your child. Try the above strategies to help your child experience gustatory input in a new way. Food exploration and mealtimes should be enjoyable, not only for the kids but for the whole family! Let us know how it goes, or if you need additional support because our team is here to support you!