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PubMed1982

Alcohol and taste-mediated learning.

Taste-mediated learning is relevant to the alcohol consumption patterns of animals. This review concludes that taste aversion learning has thus far prevented development of an animal model of alcoholism. The presence of a taste cue, lack of control over alcohol administration, and high alcohol concentrations or dosages all facilitate the development of alcohol aversions. There is little evidence that taste preference learning is involved in the development of alcohol dependence. Data from taste-mediated learning research with animals are consistent with drinking patterns of human alcoholics.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1999

The anatomy and functional role of the circumvallate papilla/von Ebner gland complex.

We suggest that the description of the reciprocal relationships between the circumvallate papilla (CP) and von Ebner glands (VEGs) reported in most textbooks of anatomy must be rewritten. In the past, the VEG was described as a gland ancillary to the taste buds, mainly involved in the washing of the vallum around the CP or in perireceptorial events. Recent data obtained in our laboratory or reported in the literature indicate that both these structures form a single functional unity which could be called circumvallata papilla/von Ebner gland (CP/VEG) complex. The CP/VEG complex seems to represent an important enzyme- and pheromone-producing system composed of a sensitive (taste buds) and an effectory (VEG) branch linked by feedback mechanisms of control. In our hypothesis, the taste buds located in the distal portion of the VEG ductal system can be considered similar to the chemoreceptory cells located in other portions of the digestive apparatus such as pancreatic and bile ducts. Therefore, the CP/VEG complex represents a rare example of chemoreceptor-secretory organ.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Acquisition and retrieval of conditioned taste aversion is impaired by brain damage caused by two hours of pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus.

The effect of Cavalheiro's pilocarpine model of epileptogenesis upon conditioned taste aversion (CTA), an important example of nondeclarative memory, was studied in adult Long Evans rats. Deterioration of CTA was studied during the silent period between pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus (SE) and delayed spontaneous recurrent seizures. SE was elicited by i.p. injection of pilocarpine (320 mg/kg ) and interrupted after 2 hours by clonazepame (1 mg/kg i.p.). Peripheral cholinergic symptoms were suppressed by methylscopolamine (1 mg/kg i.p.), administered together with pilocarpine. CTA was formed against the salty taste of isotonic LiCl. In the experiment of CTA acquisition, the CTA was formed and tested during the silent period after SE. In the experiment of CTA retrieval, the CTA was acquired before SE and the retrieval itself was tested during the silent period. Retrieval of CTA acquired before SE was impaired more than the retrieval of CTA formed during the silent period. Our findings indicate that epileptic seizures can disrupt even non-declarative memory but that CTA formed by the damaged brain can use its better preserved parts for memory trace formation. Ketamine (50 mg/kg i.p.) applied 2 min after the onset of pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus protected memory deterioration.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

A photoactivatable Cre-loxP system for spatiotemporal genetic manipulation in mouse taste buds.

Conventional genetic approaches, including global gene KO and conditional KO strategies such as the Cre-loxP system, have some limitations arising from systemic effects or insufficient temporal resolution. The recently developed photoactivatable Cre (PA-Cre) system may have a potential to improve spatiotemporal control of gene manipulation. In this study, we established and validated the feasibility of the PA-Cre system using taste buds as a model. We generated TRE-PA-Cre:R26-rtTA/tdTomato mice to evaluate blue-light-induced Cre recombinase activity. Through systematic optimization of illumination parameters, we found that a single session of blue-light-illumination resulted in limited recombination efficiency, whereas a multisession illumination strategy markedly increased recombination efficiency. To further assess the utility of the PA-Cre system for gene KO, we generated TRE-PA-Cre:R26-rtTA:Tas1r3-flox mice and targeted a taste-related gene Tas1r3. Genomic DNA quantitative PCR and reverse transcription-quantitative PCR both showed partial reductions in Tas1r3 at the DNA and mRNA levels, respectively. Behavioral assays further revealed a selective decrease in sensitivity to sweet and umami stimuli. Together, these findings demonstrate PA-Cre-mediated gene manipulation in taste buds and establish a practical optical activation paradigm, providing a high-spatiotemporal-resolution tool for investigating gene function in optically targeted regions.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Attitudinal dimensions of food choice and nutrient intake.

A diet low in fat and rich in fibre has been recommended to optimize general health and in particular cardiovascular health. Health attitudes to fat and fibre were studied in relation to food and nutrient intake and sociocultural and lifestyle factors amongst the general population of Northern Ireland. The study population comprised 592 adults aged 16-64 years; health attitudes to fat and fibre were assessed by questionnaire (based on a social psychological model, which adjusted for taste and convenience factors). Dietary intake was estimated using the weighed inventory technique. Fat-phobic and fibre-philic attitudes were more prevalent in women than men. Fat-phobic attitudes in women were inversely related to intake of fat through a reduced intake of chips, butter and sausages. In contrast, men's fat-phobic attitudes were not strongly correlated with fat intake; consumption of chips and sausages was negatively associated with fat-phobic attitudes, but cake/biscuit, buns/pastries and milk consumption was positively associated with fat-phobic attitudes. Fibre-philic attitudes were positively associated with dietary fibre intake; intakes of potatoes, vegetables, wholemeal bread and breakfast cereal were positively associated with fibre-philic attitudes. There were clear sociocultural and lifestyle differences in relation to dietary attitude. These findings have implications for campaigns designed to effect population dietary change.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Marginal zinc deficiency and changes in behavioral salt taste threshold and salt preference in mice.

An animal model of marginal zinc deficiency was tested in mice, and salt taste threshold and salt preference were investigated in the state of marginal zinc deficiency. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, four-week-old male ICR mice were fed diets of three different levels of zinc content (3.17, 9.27, or 48.13 micrograms Zn/g) for 60 days. Food intake, growth, zinc levels in tissues, hepatic metallothionein (MT) content, and activities of selected enzymes (hepatic and RBC delta-amino-levulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) and plasma alkaline phosphatase (ALP] did not differ among the groups throughout the experiment, and no overt signs of zinc deficiency were manifested in any group. In Experiment 2, four-week-old male ICR mice were fed a zinc-deficient diet (1.98 micrograms Zn/g) or a zinc-adequate diet (49.14 micrograms Zn/g) for 56 days. Food intake and growth did not differ between the two groups, and no overt signs of zinc deficiency were observed throughout the experiment. Zinc levels in the plasma and femur--but not those in the brain, kidneys, liver, and red blood cell (RBC)--and plasma ALP activities were significantly lower on Day 42 and Day 56 of the experiment in the mice fed the zinc-deficient diet (ZnD group) than in those fed the zinc-adequate diet (ZnA group). Hepatic MT contents were lower in the ZnD group than in the ZnA group on Day 56 only. Salt taste threshold was 0.05% in the ZnA group, while it was 0.1% in the ZnD group, between Day 30 and Day 38, and between Day 44 and Day 52 of the experiment. Preference for 0.9% NaCl solution was no different in the two groups when tested between Day 38 and Day 40 or between Day 52 and Day 54, but that for 1.6% NaCl solution was significantly higher in the ZnD group than in the ZnA group between Day 40 and Day 42, and between Day 54 and Day 56.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The across-fiber pattern theory and fuzzy logic: a matter of taste.

This article discusses a Fuzzy Logic (FL)-based model of neural coding and integration, proposed to be a formal extension of the Across-Fiber Pattern (AFP) theory. FL integration is conceptually similar to Bayesian reasoning, thus providing close-to-optimal decisions, and is also robust in that it does not require complete information. As a formal extension of AFP theory, the FL model describes sensory integration given multiple sources of information. When applied to gustation, the FL model is suggested to describe integration of information at the level of real-time pattern of single neural responses, population coding, and taste perception, as well as to provide a suitable description of taste mixtures.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The incidence of gastrointestinal symptoms in cardiac surgery patients through six weeks after discharge.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence and the effect of intraoperative and discharge variables on gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms after cardiac surgery during hospitalization and 2 and 6 weeks after discharge. DESIGN: Prospective and descriptive. SETTING: Two university-affiliated medical centers. PATIENTS: One hundred twenty-two adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of GI symptoms and level of distress caused by GI symptoms during hospitalization and 2 and 6 weeks after hospital discharge. INSTRUMENTS: GI symptoms were measured by The Gastrointestinal Symptom Frequency and Symptom Distress Scale. Depression was measured by The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. INTERVENTION: Demographic and physiologic variables were collected by chart review. Patients completed the Gastrointestinal Symptom Frequency and Symptom Distress Scale and The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in the hospital. Telephone interviews were used to collect 2- and 6-week data. RESULTS: Fifty-seven percent of patients after surgery reported poor appetite, 37% lack of taste, and 34% nausea during hospitalization. The frequency of all GI symptoms decreased with time; 19% of subjects reported poor appetite, 19% lack of taste, and 10% nausea at 6 weeks after discharge. Although poor appetite occurred with the greatest frequency, patients reported the greatest distress with lack of taste. When analyzed with a logistic regression model, use of antihypertensive agents was associated with lack of taste; use of diuretic and antiarrhythmic agents was associated with nausea; and level of depression was associated with all three GI symptoms. Length of cardiopulmonary bypass time mean arterial blood pressure during surgery, mixed venous oxygen saturation during surgery, and subject age did not significantly affect the frequency of GI symptoms at any data collection point. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of GI symptoms after cardiac surgery is significant, but their etiology has yet to be determined.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Mouse taste cells with glialike membrane properties.

Taste buds are sensory structures made up by tightly packed, specialized epithelial cells called taste cells. Taste cells are functionally heterogeneous, and a large proportion of them fire action potentials during chemotransduction. In view of the narrow intercellular spaces within the taste bud, it is expected that the ionic composition of the extracellular fluid surrounding taste cells may be altered significantly by activity. This consideration has led to postulate the existence of glialike cells that could control the microenvironment in taste buds. However, the functional identification of such cells has been so far elusive. By using the patch-clamp technique in voltage-clamp conditions, I identified a new type of cells in the taste buds of the mouse vallate papilla. These cells represented about 30% of cells patched in taste buds and were characterized by a large leakage current. Accordingly, I named them "Leaky" cells. The leakage current was carried by K(+), and was blocked by Ba(2+) but not by tetraethylammonium (TEA). Other taste cells, such as those possessing voltage-gated Na(+) currents and thought to be chemosensory in function, did not express any sizeable leakage current. Consistent with the presence of a leakage conductance, Leaky cells had a low input resistance (approximately 0.25 G Omega). In addition, their zero-current ("resting") potential was close to the equilibrium potential for potassium ions. The electrophysiological analysis of the membrane currents remaining after pharmacological block by Ba(2+) revealed that Leaky cells also possessed a Cl(-) conductance. However, in resting conditions the membrane of these cells was about 60 times more permeable to K(+) than to Cl(-). The resting potassium conductance in Leaky cells could be involved in dissipating rapidly the increase in extracellular K(+) during action potential discharge in chemosensory cells. Thus Leaky cells might represent glialike elements in taste buds. These findings support a model in which specific cells control the chemical composition of intercellular fluid in taste buds.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

An Equiratio Mixture Model for non-additive components: a case study for aspartame/acesulfame-K mixtures.

The Equiratio Mixture Model predicts the psychophysical function for an equiratio mixture type on the basis of the psychophysical functions for the unmixed components. The model reliably estimates the sweetness of mixtures of sugars and sugar-alcohols, but is unable to predict intensity for aspartame/sucrose mixtures. In this paper, the sweetness of aspartame/acesulfame-K mixtures in aqueous and acidic solutions is investigated. These two intensive sweeteners probably do not comply with the model's original assumption of sensory dependency among components. However, they reveal how the Equiratio Mixture Model could be modified to describe and predict mixture functions for non-additive substances. To predict equiratio functions for all similar tasting substances, a new Equiratio Mixture Model should yield accurate predictions for components eliciting similar intensities at widely differing concentration levels, and for substances exhibiting hypo- or hyperadditivity. In addition, it should be able to correct violations of Stevens's power law. These three problems are resolved in a model that uses equi-intense units as the measure of physical concentration. An interaction index in the formula for the constant accounts for the degree of interaction between mixture components. Deviations from the power law are corrected by a nonlinear response output transformation, assuming a two-stage model of psychophysical judgment.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Salt taste and disease.

Sodium appetite reflects the importance of sodium homeostasis and the relative scarcity of sodium for many terrestrial animals. Man, for various reasons, also seems to have a specific preference for salt which he consumes in excess of need, and this has been characterized as an important contributor to hypertension. Gustatory sensibility is necessary for the development of sodium appetite. Thus, research on the possible role salt taste sensitivity plays in controlling NaCl consumption in the sodium deficient rat was reviewed as a potential model for the study of salt taste and hypertension in man. Taste acuity experiments began first by examining salt taste thresholds. These studies found that thresholds were not altered by sodium deficiency in rat and the results in hypertensive humans were inconclusive. Threshold determinations may not reveal true sensitivity differences because they varied significantly across experiments and because they are restricted to a small portion of the intensity domain. When research was directed to suprathreshold stimuli, concentrations a rat or man might normally experience, the evidence suggested that hypertensive humans, like sodium-deficient rats, were less sensitive to the taste of salt. This reduced sensitivity may account, in part, for the fact that these two groups consume more salt.

Adrenal Glands↗
PubMed1998

Sweet and bitter taste discrimination in primates: scaling effects across species.

The adaptive nature of taste discrimination has been questioned on the basis that marked differences in taste thresholds for soluble sugars across mammals may not correspond to distinct dietary tendencies and further imply inaccurate prediction of the energetic value of food. Appropriate models of the evolution of taste, however, require not only consideration of adaptations to diet but also recognition of phylogenetic and allometric effects. Here, we analyse these factors in primates exhibiting various diets and covering a wide range of body weights. Taste thresholds for sucrose and fructose are negatively related to body weight overall but are commonly similar in closely related species irrespective of dietary specialisations. By contrast, major interspecific differences in the discrimination of quinine hydrochloride are observed in the absence of any allometric effect. We propose that this asymmetrical differentiation of sweet and bitter taste discrimination reflects divergent evolutionary trends for meeting energy requirements and for avoiding noxious substances.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Psychosocial predictors of consumption of sweets following smoking cessation.

The use of a theoretical model to predict consumption of sweet-tasting high-calorie foods following smoking cessation was investigated. The model included eight predictors: habit, intention, attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, perceived barriers, social support, and smoking cessation. One hundred and fourteen individuals completed pre- and post-questionnaires and made pre- and post-snack choices at smoking cessation programs. Pretest consumption of sweets (habit), pretest intention to avoid eating sweets, and posttest smoking status explained 42% of posttest consumption of sweets. Ex-smokers reported eating more sweets and chose more sweet snacks than did subjects who continued to smoke.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Enhanced gustatory neural responses to sugars in the diabetic db/db mouse.

Sweet taste sensitivity in a genetic model of diabetes, the db/db mouse, in which a single major gene defect leads to the expression of diabetes and obesity, was studied by examining chorda tympani nerve responses to various taste stimuli, including sugars. The chorda tympani responses to four sugars, sucrose, fructose, glucose, and maltose, in adult db/db mice showed greater relative magnitudes and lower thresholds than those in adult lean mice, but responses to other basic taste stimuli, such as NaCl, HCl, and quinine HCl, were not different in the two groups. Behavioral experiments using a two-bottle preference test demonstrated that taste preference scores for the four sugars at suprathreshold concentrations, except 1.0 M, were higher in db/db than in control mice. Infant mice of 7-9 days of age possessing the genotype db/db also exhibited greater neural responses and lower thresholds for sugars than infant control mice, whereas streptozotocin-induced adult diabetic mice possessing the genotype +/+ did not exhibit larger sugar responses. These findings suggest that the enhanced sugar sensitivities observed in db/db mice are probably determined by a single major gene, db. The db gene may act on a common factor(s) involved in the stimulus-secretion coupling in the pancreatic B cell and the taste cell of db/db mice.

Aging↗
PubMed1997

[Explanation and estimation of subjective probability by generalized model of Support Theory].

The purpose of this paper is to develop a new model for describing the cognitive process of decision making. Being of a generalization of Tversky and Koehler's Support Theory, the proposed model firstly defines the choice probability among several alternatives in terms of degree of "support." Secondly the model defines the degree of support in terms of objective probability and representativeness. Thirdly, this model specifies the integration process by which one reaches the probability of an event utilizing the already assessed subevents. This model was applied to and tasted by, real experimental data. In the experiment, subjects were asked to evaluate the proportions (a kind of probability) and the degrees of representativeness of two objects. Compared to the estimates derived by a Bayesian approach, the subjective probabilities estimated by the proposed model were shown to be closer to those reported by the subjects.

Adult↗