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Adaptation to capsaicin burn: effects of concentration and individual differences
D H McBurney1, C D Balaban, J R Popp
1Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
Abstract:
Human subjects rated the time course of the burn produced by three concentrations of capsaicin applied to the tongue via filter papers. Data were fit to a dynamic model composed of a level detector, a change detector, and a double integrator. These three processes responded differently to concentration. 6-n-Propyl-2-thiouracil (PROP) taster status correlated positively with the integrator process. Although a minority of subjects showed evidence of the integrator process, any subject with an integrator process at a given concentration also showed it at any higher concentration.
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