This study also found that a person’s taste sensations depend on their unique tongue prints.
AI analysis of 3D images showed that the ridges and grooves on human tongues are unique. Long, slippery, wide, bumpy — tongues are more individual than you might think. So, in the future, people could potentially be identified by the patterns on their tongues.
The research could shed light on the diversity of our food preferences and help develop healthy, tasty alternatives to fatty and sugary foods.
What the researchers found
The average human tongue is about 10 centimeters long, but only about two-thirds of it is visible. This complex organ is covered with hundreds of tiny papillae. Some of those papillae connect to taste receptors, while others let the tongue sense texture, friction, lubrication, and touch.
These sensory functions are crucial for manipulating and moving food and liquid in the mouth, says Rayna Andreeva, a graduate student and the lead researcher.
They can also influence our psychological reactions to food, for example how satisfied we feel after a meal. While the taste function of taste buds is well studied, much less is known about differences in their shapes, sizes, and patterns between people.
How AI has assisted scientists
At the team’s request, artificial intelligence models were trained on thousands of microscopic scans of individual papillae taken from silicone molds of the tongues of 15 people. The program mapped the size, features, and locations of the papillae on the tongue surface, The Guardian reported.
Researchers found that a single papilla could predict a person’s age and gender with moderate accuracy — about 67–75 percent. AI could even identify a specific person among the 15 participants with roughly a 48 percent probability.
This is the first evidence that tongue papillae could serve as unique identifiers. But the team says it needs studies with many more participants to confirm the results.
“We were surprised to see how unique these micron-scale features are for each individual,” said Professor Rick Sarkar from the University of Edinburgh.
How to apply these results in practice
Studying how papillae distribution varies between people could help explain why we prefer some foods over others, the researchers explained. Tongue characteristics may also correlate with certain diseases.
Professor Sarkar said, “Imagine being able to create products tailored to specific people and vulnerable groups, ensuring they get proper nutrition while enjoying their food.” All of this could be possible because human tongues are unique.
For example, a better understanding of the physical mechanisms that occur when different people taste chocolate could help create food alternatives that deliver similar sensations but with fewer calories.
The study’s findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
