I was driving home when I thought about Kim chi, you know, the usual. My mouth instantly flooded with saliva and I got a sort of tingling feeling under the back of my tongue.
What causes this, and what is it?
In: Biology
Our nervous system is divided into the central nervous system (CNS), the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), the rest of the nerves throughout the body which control your senses, muscle movement, etc.
A part of the peripheral nervous system is the autonomic nervous system, which in turn consists of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems.
The sympathetic NS is the one controlled by adrenaline, activated when you have to work, exercise, are scared i.e. the “fight or flight” response.
The parasympathetic one is controlled by a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine which activates the “rest and digest” response. This occurs when you have eaten and are feeling safe and relaxed. Symptoms of this are slower heart rate, relaxed muscles, and yes, increased salivation.
(TLDR) So all of this to say that I THINK that when you think about eating food you like you start preparing by salivating more (as saliva is part of the digestion process), and this is triggered by acetylcholine.
And the tingly sensation might be your salivary glands, which produce and release saliva?
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