December 25, 2023 In a surprising revelation, scientists from the University of Edinburgh have uncovered the fascinating intricacies of our tongues, showcasing the unique patterns that contribute to our individual tongue prints. It turns out, it’s not just the community of tiny microbes residing on our tongues that make each tongue distinct; it’s also the tongue’s own surface structures.
The arrangement of taste and touch buds on our tongues forms unique patterns of sizes and positions, providing each individual with a distinct sense of touch and flavor preferences. Researchers found that a single type of bud, called papillae, can be used to identify someone in a small group with an accuracy of 48 percent.
“We were surprised to see how unique these micron-sized features are to each individual,” said University of Edinburgh data scientist Rik Sakar. “Imagine being able to design personalized food customized to the conditions of specific people and vulnerable populations and thus ensure they can get proper nutrition whilst enjoying their food.”
Our tongues, complex organs with tiny bumps on their surfaces, contain structures called fungiform papillae. These papillae house taste buds that allow us to detect flavors such as sweetness, sourness, and more. Every square centimeter of our tongues contains up to 200 of these taste-packets. Additionally, there are filiform papillae, devoid of taste receptors, which detect food textures through touch, playing a role in informing our brains about hunger levels based on friction and lubrication, influenced by the presence of saliva.
Using 3D microscopic scans of over 2,000 human papillae from 15 people, an AI tool trained on the data sorted out which shapes corresponded to taste or touch. The program could identify the type of papilla with 85 percent accuracy and even determine which participant a single papilla belonged to almost half of the time.
Data scientist Rayna Andreeva from the University of Edinburgh noted, “It was remarkable that the features based on topology worked so well for most types of analysis, and they were the most distinctive across individuals.”
The study also observed that women and younger individuals tended to have pointier papillae, aligning with previous research noting higher fungiform papillae density in women and younger people, influencing taste perception.
While this research sheds light on the complex architecture of tongue surfaces, the scientists emphasize the need for larger studies to confirm trends seen in this preliminary research. The application of this technique, combining AI with geometry and topology, holds promise not only in understanding tongue uniqueness but also in early detection and diagnosis of unusual growths in human tissues.
