 It also carries taste sensations from the anterior two-thirds of the tongue, through the chorda tympani nerve (a branch of the facial nerve).Because of this, people with Bell's palsy may present with loss of taste sensation in the anterior 2/3 of the tongue on the affected side.Although the facial nerve innervates the stapedius muscle of the middle ear (through the tympanic branch), sound sensitivity, causing normal sounds to be perceived as very loud, and dysacusis are possible but hardly ever clinically evident.