Agnes Phua, special to WTOP

WASHINGTON — The tongue is not as useful as many of us might think.

Most people would say the tongue is what allows us to taste the food we eat. But it turns out that’s not the case, researchers say — our noses and our ears play an even more important role.

As much as 90 percent of what we perceive as taste is actually an odor inhaled by the nose, Wired Science reports.

To demonstrate the limitations of the tongue, scientists have created various experiments with test subjects.

One study by Adrian North, of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, showed that music influenced how people perceive the taste of wine they were drinking. He invited 250 university students to drink red and white wine while listening to different types of music. After five minutes of listening, participants were asked to rate their drink.

Those who drank while listening to the cantata Carmina Burana gave their drink the highest rating of powerful and heavy.

On the other hand, participants listening to Breakdown by Michael Brook rated their wine as mellow and soft.

Here’s one version of Carmina Burana:

Compared with Micheal Brook’s Breakdown:

To read more, click here.

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