Jove
Visualize
Contact Us

Related Experiment Videos

Neuron types, receptors, behavior, and taste quality.

M E Frank1

  • 1Department of Oral Diagnosis, School of Dental Medicine, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington 06030-1605, USA. mfrank@neuron.uchc.edu

Physiology & Behavior
|June 16, 2000
PubMed
Summary

This study links chorda tympani (CT) neuron activity to taste perception in hamsters. Findings suggest specific neural codes for sweet and salty tastes, impacting learned aversions.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Responses of the rat chorda tympani nerve to glutamate-sucrose mixtures.

Chemical senses·2004
Same author

Effects of chlorhexidine on human taste perception.

Physiology & behavior·2001
Same author

TGF-beta released by apoptotic T cells contributes to an immunosuppressive milieu.

Immunity·2001
Same author

Taste function in patients with oral burning.

Chemical senses·2000
Same author

Suppression of streptococcal cell wall-induced arthritis by human chorionic gonadotropin.

Arthritis and rheumatism·2000
Same author

A confusion matrix for the study of taste perception.

Perception & psychophysics·1999
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Biology
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • The chorda tympani (CT) nerve transmits taste information from the anterior tongue.
  • Understanding neural coding of taste is crucial for explaining sensory perception and motivated behaviors.
  • Previous research has explored taste processing in various species, but direct links between peripheral nerve activity and behavioral generalization remain complex.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review and synthesize neurophysiological data from chorda tympani (CT) single fibers.
  • To analyze behavioral studies on learned aversion generalization in hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).
  • To compare findings in hamsters with data from other species, including rats and primates.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing neurophysiological recordings from CT single fibers.
  • Analysis of behavioral experiments investigating learned taste aversions and generalization.
  • Comparative analysis across different species to identify conserved or divergent mechanisms.

Main Results:

  • Associations were found between the response profiles of specialist CT neurons and behavioral stimulus generalization.
  • These profiles correlate with characteristics of putative taste receptors, suggesting specific taste qualities.
  • Generalist CT neuron responses also link to receptor characteristics but not specific behavioral discriminations.

Conclusions:

  • Peripheral nerve data strongly suggest specific neural codes for "sucrose-like" and "NaCl-like" taste qualities.
  • These findings link peripheral taste receptor mechanisms to behavioral outcomes.
  • Further research into central neural processing is needed to fully understand "patterns" or "labeled lines" theories of taste coding.

Related Experiment Videos