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New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding
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Taste Quality Representation in the Human Brain.

Jason A Avery1, Alexander G Liu2, John E Ingeholm2

  • 1Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892 jason.avery@nih.gov.

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|December 15, 2019
PubMed
Summary

The human brain represents taste not in specific locations but through a distributed population code. This code is found in the insula and other brain regions involved in taste perception and reward.

Keywords:
7TMVPAfMRItaste

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Perception
  • Brain Imaging

Background:

  • The insula is crucial for taste perception, but its organizational principle (topographical vs. population code) remains debated.
  • Rodent studies suggest a gustotopic map, while primate studies indicate broad neuronal tuning to multiple tastes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the spatial representation of taste in the human brain using ultra-high resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
  • To differentiate between topographical and population coding models of taste representation in the insula.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized 7-tesla fMRI for high-resolution imaging of the human brain during taste stimulation.
  • Administered sweet, salty, and sour liquids to participants using an MRI-compatible system.
  • Employed univariate and multivariate (searchlight) analyses to examine brain activation patterns.

Main Results:

  • Univariate analyses showed all tastes activated the bilateral mid-insula but no specific taste preference was found.
  • Multivariate analyses successfully decoded distinct taste identities within the mid-insula.
  • Taste decoding was also achieved in reward-related areas: striatum, orbitofrontal cortex, and amygdala.

Conclusions:

  • Taste quality is represented by a distributed population code, not a topographical map, in the human insula.
  • This population coding extends to brain regions processing the hedonic and aversive aspects of taste.
  • Findings advance our understanding of sensory coding in the human brain.