Enhancing Salty Taste Perception in Stroke Patients via Anodal Electrical Stimulation to the Chin

A lower salt intake is an effective management strategy for hypertension and ultimately stroke. However, this strategy compromises the taste of food. To overcome this, a taste manipulation strategey using electronic taste simulation (ETS) has been established, but this has only been studied in healthy individuals. Therefore, this study aimed to demonstrate and quantitatively evaluate the taste enhancement effect of ETS in patients admitted to a hospital due to stroke. Twenty patients (mean = 67.8 ± 13.6 years) underwent two psychophysical experiments to assess the effects of ETS on salt taste perception using salt-impregnated filter paper. The patients' stroke types included twelve ischemic and eight hemorrhagic strokes. The median salt taste thresholds without ETS and with ETS were 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively (p = 0.083). The perceived concentration for the 0.8% concentration increased from 0.8% to 1.0% with the ETS (p = 0.041), and for the 1.0% concentration, from 1.0% to 1.2% (p < 0.001). The findings suggest that ETS significantly enhances salty taste perception in patients who have experienced a stroke without altering salt concentration, potentially aiding in reducing daily salt intake. Further research is necessary to explore its broad applicability in dietary management and blood pressure control.