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Results for “taste perception”

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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Changes in patients' taste acuity after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for clinically severe obesity.

OBJECTIVE: Patients who have undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) for clinically severe obesity often report an aversion to sweet foods and meat. This study was designed to determine whether changes in taste acuity occur after RYGB. DESIGN: This prospective, repeated measures trial evaluated acuity for sweet (sucrose) and bitter (urea) tastes, zinc status, and reported changes in taste perceptions in patients undergoing RYGB for weight reduction. SUBJECTS: Taste acuity and serum zinc level were measured in 14 subjects, 6 men and 8 women (mean preoperative body mass index [calculated as kg/m2] = 60.8 +/- 11.8 and mean age = 38.4 +/- 6 years), before surgery and 6 and 12 weeks after surgery. Inquiries regarding taste preferences were made at each postoperative visit with specific reference to sweets and meat. Serum zinc level was measured at the same visit. A noncontrolled comparison group of 4 subjects who were consuming a very-low-calorie diet also underwent taste acuity testing at similar intervals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures were recognition taste thresholds, serum zinc levels, and taste preference changes. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Analysis of variance with repeated measures over time, Pearson correlation coefficients, and post hoc analysis of variance were used to analyze data. RESULTS: Mean recognition thresholds for sucrose were 0.047 +/- 0.03 mol/L preoperatively and fell significantly to 0.024 +/- 0.01 and 0.019 +/- 0.01 mol/L at 6 and 12 weeks postoperatively, respectively. Overall, there were no significant differences in taste thresholds for urea over time; a significant difference was noted, however, in the pattern of change for urea between patients who reported an aversion to meats and those who did not. Zinc concentrations did not change during the study. APPLICATION/CONCLUSIONS: At 6 weeks postoperatively, all patients reported that foods tasted sweeter, and they modified food selection accordingly. Six patients reported an aversion to meats associated with increased nausea and vomiting. Acuity for sweet and bitter tastes may need to be considered when planning dietary modifications for patients undergoing RYGB.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Issues of gustatory neural coding: where they stand today.

The basic issues of gustatory neural coding are revisited. Questions addressed and conclusions drawn are: (1) what is the physical dimension across which gustatory neurons are sensitive, and upon which taste perceptions are based? The dimension that unites the various taste qualities is not physical, but physiological: a dimension of well-being, bounded by toxins at one extreme and nutrients at the other. (2) How broadly tuned are taste cells across the dimension? There are instances of specificity, but most mammalian taste cells respond to a range of qualities. (3) Are there basic taste qualities? Sweet, salty, sour, and bitter are widely accepted as basic tastes. Umami and starch tastes are considered basic by some. (4) Is taste topographically organized? There is some degree of physical separation among neurons most responsive to different taste qualities, but this does not appear to be sufficient precision to act as a meaningful coding mechanism. (5) Are there gustatory neuron types? Neurons, separated into categories according to their response profiles, respond as members of their category to the challenges of conditioned aversions and preferences, sodium deprivation, hyperglycemia, and receptor blockade, while cells from other categories react differently. This indicates the existence of functionally distinct types of taste cells. (6) Is the quality signal coded within the activity of the single most appropriate category of neurons, or is it carried by the pattern of response across neuronal categories? Both the breadth of responsiveness and the logical ambiguity of the signal in any one category of neurons argue that the taste message is carried by a pattern of activity across gustatory neuron types.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Role of apical ion channels in sour taste transduction.

Sour taste perception depends primarily on the concentration of H+ in the taste stimulus. Acid stimuli elicit concentration-dependent action potentials in taste cells. Recent patch-clamp studies suggest that protons depolarize taste cells by direct interaction with apically located ion channels. In Necturus maculosus, the voltage-dependent K+ conductance is restricted to the apical membrane of taste cells. The current flows through a variety of K+ channels with unitary conductances ranging from 30 to 175 pS, all of which are blocked directly by citric acid applied to outside-out or perfused cell-attached patches. In contrast, hamster fungiform taste cells appear to utilize the amiloride-sensitive Na+ channel for acid transduction. Amiloride completely inhibits H+ currents elicited by acid stimuli in isolated taste cells, with an inhibition constant similar to that for amiloride-sensitive Na+ currents (Ki = 0.2 microM). Treatment of isolated taste cells with the bioactive peptide arginine-vasopressin results in similar increases in both the amiloride-sensitive Na+ and H+ currents; the effect is mimicked by 8-bromocyclic AMP. These results suggest that H+ can permeate amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels in hamster fungiform taste cells, contributing to the transduction of sour stimuli.

Animals↗
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↗
PubMed2001

Mammalian sweet taste receptors.

The sense of taste provides animals with valuable information about the quality and nutritional value of food. Previously, we identified a large family of mammalian taste receptors involved in bitter taste perception (the T2Rs). We now report the characterization of mammalian sweet taste receptors. First, transgenic rescue experiments prove that the Sac locus encodes T1R3, a member of the T1R family of candidate taste receptors. Second, using a heterologous expression system, we demonstrate that T1R2 and T1R3 combine to function as a sweet receptor, recognizing sweet-tasting molecules as diverse as sucrose, saccharin, dulcin, and acesulfame-K. Finally, we present a detailed analysis of the patterns of expression of T1Rs and T2Rs, thus providing a view of the representation of sweet and bitter taste at the periphery.

Animals↗
PubMed2000

Psychophysics of taste lateralization on anterior tongue.

There have been very few investigations of the spatial properties of taste stimuli localized to specific areas of the oral cavity. This is surprising, since the spatial localization of taste sensations may contribute to the overall taste percept, much as do quality, intensity, and the temporal characteristics of tastes. The difficulty in eliminating the confounding factor of a tactile sensation may partially account for the paucity of such studies, since a gustatory stimulus cannot be presented as a liquid without a tactile component. As a step toward understanding the localizability of gustatory sensations, we designed a yoked stimulator and an experimental procedure to control for tactile cues. Lateral discrimination was evaluated at the tip of the tongue with four taste stimuli (sodium saccharin, sodium chloride, citric acid, and quinine hydrochloride) by presenting a taste and a blank solution simultaneously at two locations on the tongue. We found that subjects could lateralize all four taste stimuli in the absence of any discriminative tactile cues. Subjects' ability to lateralize varied as a psychometric function of the stimulus concentration. Detection thresholds, measured in a forced-choice two-interval staircase procedure with the same yoked stimulator that was used in the lateralization task, were always lower than lateralization thresholds, and both lateralization and detection thresholds were correlated within subjects. Subjects were unable to lateralize taste cues on a nongustatory surface under the upper lip at the highest tested concentrations, at which performance was 100% on a gustatory surface (dorsal anterior tongue). These results show that (1) taste compounds can be lateralized in the absence of any discriminative mechanical cue (but only on the gustatory epithelium) and (2) although the localization of a compound does not logically require conscious detection of the taste (cf. blind sight), subjects always detected a taste when they were able to lateralize.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

Role of sensory factors in chewing and feeding behavior.

Since feeding behavior has a complex physiological background, in the physiology of feeding behavoir not only the mechanisms in the hypothalamus, but also input and output physiologic factors which stimulate and/or inhibit the central network for feeding and aversion behavior, must be considered. Normal feeding and aversion behavior are accomplished by a series of highly co-ordinated physiological functions involving various parts of the body, and humoral, hormonal, metabolic, and sensory and motor functions for feeding behavior must be well considered from a wider wiew point. For this purpose, morphological, biochemical, and neurophysiological extensive approaches to study the feeding behavior mechanisms are essentially important. In the present paper, neurophysiological network concerning feeding and aversion behavior was under discussion. Particularly, relations between input, central and output factors for these behaviors were considered. As an input factor, a role of the nerve impulses of the chorda tympani and lingual nerves was evaluated. As a central factor, involvement of the neurons in the cortical taste area was discussed, and response patterns of cortical taste neurons to negative and positive taste information was analyzed with regard to taste perception mechanisms. In addition, mechanisms in the posterior hypothalamus for the taste aversion behavior were explained through ablation and recording techniques in the rat; and the neuromuscular mechanisms of chewing, which complete the feeding behavior, were also discussed. Importance of such comprehensive systematic approach to proper understanding of feeding and aversion behaviors was emphasized.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

The effect of laser assisted uvulopalatoplasty on the sense of smell and taste.

AIM: To assess the effect, if any, of Laser Assisted Uvulo Palatoplasty (LAUP) on the sense of smell and taste. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study examined 33 patients undergoing LAUP for snoring. Significant sinonasal pathology was excluded in all patients by a complete examination including rigid nasal endoscopy. None of the cases had any systemic illness or drug history that was likely to affect the sense of smell or taste. Twenty-eight patients were male and five female. The mean age was 44 years (range, 25-67). Twelve patients (36%) were regular smokers, and eight patients (24%) were ex-smokers all of whom reported a change in smell and taste after stopping. Preoperative assessment utilised a visual analogue score of smell and taste perception, the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test (UPSIT) for the assessment of olfaction (maximum score of 40), and whole mouth testing for solutions of NaCl, sucrose, quinine, citric acid and acetic acid. LAUP technique was standardised for each case and reassessment was performed 3 months postoperatively. RESULTS: Three patients failed to complete the study and were excluded. The mean values for visual analogue score pre and post surgery were 9.1 and 8.9 respectively, which was not significant using Wilcoxon Rank test (P = 0.257). The mean value of the UPSIT scores before surgery were 32.3 (+4.0), range, 24-39, and after surgery 31.2 (+4.3), range 20-37. There was no significant difference in pre and post UPSIT scores (p = 0.068). Whole mouth taste testing had a preoperative mean value of 4.1 and a postoperative value of 4.2. The difference was not statistically significant, Wilcoxon Rank test (p = 0.317). CONCLUSION: In this study there was no significant change in the patients' perception of smell and taste or in their objective measurement following a standardised Laser Assisted Uvulopalatoplasty.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Human taste bud density across adult age groups.

Some of the subjective variability attributed to taste experience could be related to wide variations of taste bud density. Studies of taste perception show a direct relationship between sensation and the number of receptors. Taste bud densities are quantified in this study using light microscopy to reconstruct two regions of 18 human cadaver tongues. Specimens came from male and female cadavers representing three age groups: young adults, middle-aged adults, and older adults. The results show a range of more than 100-fold in taste bud density that is evenly distributed among age groups and sexes. The disparity is not attributable to the state of health of the adults prior to death, and it is corroborated in the literature. Differences in taste bud density that extend across age groups probably confound some inferences about the effects of aging on taste sensitivity that are derived from cross-sectional studies of human populations. It is not clear from the data whether or not human taste bud density in individuals and in populations is stable or changing with time.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Taste: the neglected nutritional factor.

Scientists now think that every taste bud has some degree of sensitivity to all the primary taste sensations. The brain detects the type of taste by the ratio of stimulation of different taste buds. Many different substances have flavor-enhancing capacity, including ingredients that represent the primary tastes. Medications, chronic disorders, and radiation therapy can alter taste perception, resulting in loss of appetite. Individualizing nutrition advice, with consideration of taste, health needs, and personal preferences, is a "signature dish" of quality dietetics practice.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

The addition of CO2 to traditional taste solutions alters taste quality.

Previous studies of the effect of carbonation on taste perception have suggested that it may be negligible, manifesting primarily in increases in the perceived intensity of weak salt and sour stimuli. Assuming CO2 solutions in the mouth stimulate only trigeminal nerve endings, this result is not altogether surprising; however, there are neurophysiological data indicating that CO2 stimulates gustatory as well as trigeminal fibers. In that case, carbonation might alter the quality profile of a stimulus without producing substantial changes in overall taste intensity--much as occurs when qualitatively different taste stimuli are mixed. To address this possibility, subjects were asked to rate the total taste intensity of moderate concentrations of stimuli representing each of the basic tastes and their binary combinations, with an without added carbonation. They then subdivided total taste intensity into the proportions of sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness and 'other taste qualities' they perceived. The addition of carbonation produced only small increases in ratings of total taste intensity. However, rather dramatic alterations in the quality profiles of stimuli were observed, particularly for sweet and salty tastes. The nature of the interaction is consistent with a direct effect of carbonation/CO2 on the gustatory system, although the possibility that at least some of the observed effects reflect trigeminal-gustatory interactions cannot be ruled out.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

A novel family of mammalian taste receptors.

In mammals, taste perception is a major mode of sensory input. We have identified a novel family of 40-80 human and rodent G protein-coupled receptors expressed in subsets of taste receptor cells of the tongue and palate epithelia. These candidate taste receptors (T2Rs) are organized in the genome in clusters and are genetically linked to loci that influence bitter perception in mice and humans. Notably, a single taste receptor cell expresses a large repertoire of T2Rs, suggesting that each cell may be capable of recognizing multiple tastants. T2Rs are exclusively expressed in taste receptor cells that contain the G protein alpha subunit gustducin, implying that they function as gustducin-linked receptors. In the accompanying paper, we demonstrate that T2Rs couple to gustducin in vitro, and respond to bitter tastants in a functional expression assay.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Intraoral currents and taste thresholds.

A group of patients, with oral symptoms such as oral smart, battery taste and mental taste, were examined to study the relationship, if any, between intraoral currents, created at metallic contacts between restorative materials, and taste perception thresholds. The patients were examined with an electrogustometric method for determination of taste threshold levels. Further the intraoral currents were calculated from data obtained at potential and polarization measurements. Comparisons were then between groups of subjects with and without oral symptoms. The results of this study indicate that patients with certain oral symptoms have lower threshold levels for electric taste stimulation than persons in a control group selected at random. No differences were, however, observed between the magnitudes of intraoral currents in the two groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Discrimination of taste and preference for sweet in premature babies.

A modified method for registering non-nutritive sucking behaviour with and without taste stimulation enabled us to study taste perception of premature babies. We wanted to study how babies who had no extrauterine taste experience reacted to one or more stimuli with water and 33% glucose. Eight randomly selected healthy newborns (three of them being SGA without further symptoms), exclusively fed by gastric tube, were studied. The mean gestational age at the time of the study was 35.5 weeks. They were studied five times with water and five times with glucose just before feeding. In seven babies the sucking response to glucose was greater than that to water from the first trial onwards. Sucking response increased with repeated glucose stimulation, but remained the same with water stimulation. The eighth baby behaved completely differently. We concluded from our results that premature babies with a postconceptional age of 35 weeks can discriminate between sweet and not-sweet. The greater sucking response to glucose than to water at the first trial implies a genetic factor in the preference for sweet in humans.

Discrimination, Psychological↗
PubMed1992

Carboxylic acid replacement structure-activity relationships in suosan type sweeteners. A sweet taste antagonist. 1.

N-(4-Cyanophenyl)-N'-(2-carboxyethyl)urea (2), an analogue of suosan [1,N-(4-nitrophenyl)-N'-(2-carboxyethyl)urea], is a known high-potency sweetener derived from beta-alanine. Sulfonic and phosphonic acid analogues of 2 were prepared to develop structure-activity relationships through modification of the carboxylic acid region of this family of sweeteners. Neither of the carboxylic acid replacements resulted in sweet analogues. However, we found that N-(4-cyanophenyl)-N'-[(sodiosulfo)methyl]urea (7) is an antagonist of the sweet taste response. The bitter taste response to caffeine, quinine, and naringin was also antagonized. Antagonist 7 was found to inhibit the sweet taste perception of a variety of sweeteners. Antagonist 7 had no effect on the sour or salty taste response.

Aspartic Acid↗
PubMed1997

Tastes, structure and solution properties of D-glucono-1,5-lactone.

D-glucono-1,5-lactone differs from D-glucopyranose only in that it has a C = O group instead of CHOH group at carbon atom number one. The molecule therefore possesses an intact 3,4 alpha-glycol group and is sweet. However, it autohydrolyses in water solution at room temperature, forming D-gluconic acid and D-glucono-1,4-lactone. As the solution pH falls it becomes sweet-sour and eventually almost completely sour as the generated hydronium ions dominate both the solution properties and the taste perceptions elicited. It is shown that the ratio of generated hydronium ions to unchanged lactone accords with anticipated taste quality during the first 28 min of autohydrolysis. Changes in both apparent specific volume and apparent isentropic compressibility illustrate increasing solute-solvent interaction and increasing disturbance of water structure during the course of autohydrolysis. These changes are consistent with the concurrent sweet to sour change, but do not explain the weak bitterness which also accompanies them.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Taste responses to saltiness among hypertensive subjects under different therapeutic regimens.

Dietary sodium restriction is increasingly regarded as important in the prevention and treatment of essential hypertension. However, low-sodium diets are frequently considered unpalatable and therefore unfeasible. The objectives of this study were to determine (a) whether hypertensives, treated and untreated, differ in saltiness taste perception from age-matched normotensive controls and (b) whether sodium reduction can be accomplished by substituting another taste stimulus without reducing apparent saltiness and palatability. Subjects included 72 hypertensives, 44 to 69 years old, divided among three treatment groups; 25 age-matched normotensive controls; and an additional 21 normotensives, 20 to 43 years old, to provide an age continuum for evaluating age effects. Taste responses were measured in terms of saltiness intensity and preference using tomato juice varying systematically in sodium chloride and citric acid content. No significant differences were found between normotensives and hypertensives. No significant effects were associated with blood pressure status, therapeutic regimen, age, sex, race, or anthropometric measurements. Both sodium chloride and citric acid were main effects for saltiness, allowing a trade-off between salt and acid. Addition of citric acid permitted 50% reduction of sodium content in tomato juice without disturbing palatability criteria. Results provide a model for modifying other processed foods.

Adrenergic beta-Antagonists↗