[Dysgeusia in clinical practice. 1. Physiology]

The anatomical basis of taste are discussed both in their peripheral and in central aspects. The perception is based upon four principal flavors; this happens by complex chemical interactions between peripheral receptors of papillae and the taste producing substances. The nervous stimulus flows through fibres of VII-IX-X cranial nerves up to the tractus solitarius nucleus; successive elaboration leads to the taste sensation, whose principal cortical site is the zone between Silvius and Rolando's sulcus. The distribution of the sensible zones for the fundamental flavors is presented.