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Taste laterality in the split brain
S M Aglioti1, G Tassinari, M Fabri
1Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università 'La Sapienza', Via dei Marsi 78, 00185 Roma, Italy.
The European Journal of Neuroscience
|January 3, 2001
Summary
Taste information bypasses the corpus callosum to reach the left hemisphere, with ipsilateral tongue input showing a functional advantage. The corpus callosum equalizes taste input from both sides of the tongue.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Gustatory Neuroscience
- Neuroanatomy
Background:
- The corpus callosum facilitates interhemispheric communication.
- Understanding gustatory pathway lateralization is crucial for brain function.
- Previous studies suggest callosal involvement in taste processing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate taste discrimination in patients with corpus callosum resection.
- To determine the role of the corpus callosum in integrating ipsilateral and contralateral taste information.
- To explore hemispheric dominance in gustatory processing.
Main Methods:
- Assessed taste discrimination (sour, bitter, salty) in two corpus callosum resection patients and controls.
- Utilized a language-based discrimination task with visual/verbal responses.
- Applied stimuli to right and left sides of the tongue.
Main Results:
- Patients with corpus callosum resection showed above-chance taste discrimination.
- A significant advantage in accuracy and reaction time was observed for left-sided tongue stimuli.
- Normal controls and a patient with posterior callosum sparing exhibited no such lateralization.
Conclusions:
- Taste information can reach the left hemisphere without the corpus callosum.
- Ipsilateral tongue input to the left hemisphere is functionally dominant.
- The corpus callosum, particularly the splenium, equalizes bilateral gustatory input to the left hemisphere.
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