Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2026
Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans
Published on: March 19, 2014
The evaluation of brain activity in response to taste stimuli--a pilot study and method for central taste activation
Guido K Frank1, Walter H Kaye, Cameron S Carter
1Department of Psychiatry, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Room 132, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. frankgk@msx.upmc.edu
Background:
Brain pathways contribute to the regulation of appetite behaviors, and advancements in brain imaging offer new opportunities in determining whether disturbances of these pathways play a role in pathological feeding behaviors in humans. We developed a standardized method for the assessment of brain activation in response to taste stimuli.
Methods:
Five healthy control women were positioned in a 1.5 T GE magnet resonance (MR) scanner for functional MR imaging (fMRI). They received 1.0 cm3 samples of 1 M glucose solution or artificial saliva (25 mM KCl, 2 mM NaHCO3). Fluid challenges were delivered by a programmable syringe pump (J-Kem Scientific, St. Louis, MO). E-Prime software (Psychology Software Tools Inc., Pittsburgh, PA) coordinated taste stimulation with MR scanning. Data were analyzed using NeuroImaging software (NIS).
Results:
Healthy women showed increased orbitofrontal cortex activation when glucose was compared to artificial saliva. In addition, mesial and lateral temporal cortical regions contrasted glucose from artificial saliva.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates a design for the systematic study of brain activation after taste stimulation using fMRI and computer controlled stimulus delivery. The results are consistent with previous studies, showing activation in higher order brain centers that are involved in emotional coding of taste experience.
More Related Videos
08:07Simultaneous Detection of c-Fos Activation from Mesolimbic and Mesocortical Dopamine Reward Sites Following Naive Sugar and Fat Ingestion in Rats
Published on: August 24, 2016
10:09Mapping the After-effects of Theta Burst Stimulation on the Human Auditory Cortex with Functional Imaging
Published on: September 12, 2012