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Updated: Aug 9, 2025
10:59
New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding
Published on: June 29, 2017
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A common neural code for representing imagined and inferred tastes.
Jason A Avery1, Madeline Carrington1, Alex Martin1
1Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, United States.
Progress in Neurobiology
|February 22, 2023
Summary
Imagining tastes activates brain regions involved in actual taste perception. Neural patterns for imagined and perceived tastes are similar, suggesting a common taste code in the brain.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Sensory Perception
Background:
- Gustatory mental imagery is under-studied despite its importance in food choice.
- Understanding how the brain processes imagined tastes is crucial for cognitive neuroscience.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate neural activity during imagined tastes using fMRI.
- To determine if imagined tastes activate taste-specific brain regions.
- To explore shared neural representations for imagined and perceived tastes.
Main Methods:
- High-field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used.
- Participants actively imagined basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty).
- Participants viewed food pictures dominant in specific taste qualities.
Main Results:
- Imagined tastes activated the bilateral dorsal mid-insula, a key taste processing area.
- Neural patterns for imagined tastes were decoded by quality (sweet, sour, salty).
- Neural patterns for imagined and perceived tastes in the mid-insula were similar and quality-specific.
Conclusions:
- The dorsal mid-insula processes taste quality regardless of whether it is imagined or perceived.
- A common neural code may represent taste quality across different sensory modalities.
- Findings advance understanding of mental imagery and multimodal sensory processing.
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