Taste stimuli: time course of peripheral nerve response and theoretical models

The responses of a taste nerve in rats to sodium chloride were integrated over successive 10-millisecond intervals and averaged. The time course of the mean responses consisted of a 30-millisecond latency, a rapid rise to a maximum, and a slower decline to a sustained level. The chemoreceptor theories of Beidler and Paton failed to predict the relation between phasic response and time or concentration.