Advanced Taste Buds Quiz

Q1. Are gustatory receptor cells themselves primary sensory neurons?

• No, they are smooth muscle cells
• Yes, they are motor neurons of CN XII
• Yes, they are pseudounipolar neurons with cell bodies in the tongue
• No, they are specialized epithelial receptor cells that signal to sensory afferents

Q2. Why can taste buds continually replace their receptor cells?

• Von Ebner glands transform directly into neurons
• Local progenitor cells continually generate replacement taste bud cells
• Sensory ganglia send new epithelial cells down their axons
• Mature gustatory cells divide indefinitely

Q3. Which sensory ganglion contains the primary gustatory neuron cell bodies for the glossopharyngeal nerve?

• Geniculate ganglion
• Trigeminal ganglion
• Submandibular ganglion
• Inferior glossopharyngeal ganglion

Q4. Which sensory ganglion contains primary taste afferent cell bodies associated with the vagus nerve?

• Inferior vagal ganglion
• Ciliary ganglion
• Superior cervical ganglion
• Pterygopalatine ganglion

Q5. How do receptor mechanisms differ among basic taste qualities?

• Different taste qualities use distinct receptor and ion-sensitive transduction mechanisms
• Taste is generated solely by lingual muscle contraction
• All taste qualities activate the same mechanical receptor
• Every taste quality depends only on olfactory neurons

Q6. Why can injury to the chorda tympani reduce taste from the anterior tongue without eliminating general somatic sensation there?

• General sensation is carried only by CN IX
• Taste and general sensation travel through different functional nerve components
• The hypoglossal nerve replaces all lost taste fibers
• Taste buds become insensitive to all cranial nerves

Q7. Why may dry mouth impair taste perception?

• Saliva normally provides motor innervation to taste buds
• Dryness destroys the hypoglossal nucleus
• Dryness closes the foramen cecum
• Reduced oral fluid limits dissolution and delivery of tastants to taste pores

Q8. What occurs at the basal region of a taste bud during sensory transmission?

• Basal cells transmit impulses through the lingual artery
• Taste pores synapse directly with skeletal muscle
• Motor end plates activate gustatory microvilli
• Receptor cells signal to afferent nerve endings

Q9. Why does flushing by von Ebner glands support detection of changing tastes?

• It stimulates only motor fibers of CN XII
• It permanently blocks the taste pores
• It clears residual tastants from receptor surfaces
• It converts filiform papillae into taste buds

Q10. Which statement best integrates taste bud anatomy and neural function?

• Taste buds convert chemical stimuli into signals carried mainly by CN VII, IX, and X
• All taste information travels through CN XII
• Taste buds are sensory ganglia composed entirely of neurons
• Taste buds occur only in filiform papillae and have no neural contacts