Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

The Dig Task: A Simple Scent Discrimination Reveals Deficits Following Frontal Brain Damage
Published on: January 4, 2013
Taste and olfactory status in a gourmand with a right amygdala lesion
M Gallo1, F Gámiz, M Perez-García
1a Department of Psychobiology, Instituto de Neurociencias F. Olóriz , Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas, CIBM, Universidad de Granada , Granada , Spain.
Abstract:
In a patient with a lesion of the right amygdala and temporal pole who had the characteristics of the gourmand syndrome, sensory and hedonic testing was performed to examine the processing of taste, olfactory, and some emotional stimuli. The gourmand syndrome describes a preoccupation with food and a preference for fine eating and is associated with right anterior lesions. It was found that the taste thresholds for sweet, salt, bitter, and sour were normal; that the patient did not dislike the taste of salt (NaCl) at low and moderate concentrations as much as age-matched controls; that this also occurred for monosodium glutamate (MSG); that there were some olfactory differences from normal controls; and that there was a marked reduction in the ability to detect face expressions of disgust.
Related Concept Videos
Taste Buds and Receptors
Olfactory Receptors: Location and Structure
The Physiology of Taste
Olfaction
The olfactory receptors are embedded in the cilia of the...
Gustation
Conditioned Taste Aversion
A notable characteristic of conditioned taste aversion is that it often requires only a single exposure...

