Anatomical structures related to taste reconstructed from scanned human data. Specialized nerves innervate the surface of the tongue and carry electrical nerve impulses to the cerebral cortex (the outermost surface of the brain), where the sense of taste is perceived. The facial nerve (Cranial nerve VII) senses taste from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, and the glossopharyngeal nerve (Cranial Nerve IX) and vagus nerve (Cranial Nerve X) sense taste from both the posterior one third of the tongue and the pharynx.