Scientists have debated how the tongue and brain distinguish between different tastes for decades - and now US researchers believe they have the answer.
Columbia University experts said the brain has special neurons that detect the distinctions across the five basic food tastes: salty, sour, sweet, bitter and umami (a Japanese loanword meaning savoury).
They also claimed the long-standing belief that only certain areas of the tongue can detect different tastes is a myth. For example, it is commonly thought that just the tip of the tongue can identify sweet foods.
Instead, there are approximately 8,000 taste buds spread across the tongue, and all of them have the capacity to sense each of the different types of taste.
However, within individual tastebuds, there are specialised cells that are specifically tuned towards salty, sour, bitter, sweet or umami foods. When triggered, they send a special signal to the brain.
The different tongue sensors have a matching partner in the brain, allowing people to distinguish tastes, although researchers are still debating how the brain converts this information.
Nevertheless, the team's findings were published in the Nature journal, with scientists stating it could provide a basis for preventing loss of taste in elderly patients.
'The cells were beautifully tuned to discrete individual taste qualities, so you have a very nice match between the nature of the cells in your tongue and the quality they represent [in the brain],' Professor Charles Zuker told the BBC.
Scientists uncovered the discovery by engineering mice that had fluorescent taste neurons when activated. The animals were then fed foods with different tastes, with researchers monitoring the rodents' brain activity.
An endoscope was trained on each mouse's neurons located at the base of the brain, which recorded the areas that lit up when certain foods were consumed.
The breakthrough means taste is ultimately decided in the brain rather than the tongue, potentially leading to a number of exciting research avenues.