Physiology of Taste Processing in the Tongue, Gut, and Brain

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Ranier Gutierrez ◽  
Sidney A. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Taste Processing

scholarly journals Cortical processing of chemosensory and hedonic features of taste in active licking mice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia Bouaichi ◽  
Roberto Vincis
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Ratio ◽  
Stereotyped Behavior ◽  
Neural Dynamics ◽  
Ratio Schedule ◽  
Neural Processing ◽  
Fixed Ratio Schedule ◽  
Gustatory Cortex ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Taste Processing ◽  
To Receive

ABSTRACTIn the last two decades, a considerable amount of work has been devoted to investigating the neural processing and dynamics of the primary taste cortex of rats. Surprisingly, much less information is available on cortical taste electrophysiology in awake mice, an animal model that is taking a more prominent role in taste research. Here we present electrophysiological evidence demonstrating how the gustatory cortex (GC) encodes information pertaining the basic taste qualities (sweet, salty, sour, and bitter) when stimuli are actively sampled through licking, the stereotyped behavior by which mice control the access of fluids in the mouth. Mice were trained to receive each stimulus on a fixed ratio schedule in which they had to lick a dry spout six times to receive a tastant on the seventh lick. Electrophysiological recordings confirmed that GC neurons encode both chemosensory and hedonic aspects of actively sampled tastants. In addition, our data revealed two other main findings; GC neurons encoded information about taste identity in as little as 120 ms. Consistent with the ability of GC neurons to rapidly encode taste information, nearly half of the recorded neurons exhibited spiking activity that was entrained to licking at rates up to 8 Hz. Overall, our results highlight how the GC of mice processes tastants when they are actively sensed through licking, reaffirming and expanding our knowledge on cortical taste processing.NEW & NOTEWORTHYRelatively little information is available on the neural dynamics of taste processing in the mouse gustatory cortex (GC). In this study we investigate how the GC encodes information of the qualities and hedonics of a broad panel of gustatory stimuli when tastants are actively sampled through licking. Our results show that the GC neurons broadly encode taste qualities but also process taste hedonics and licking information in a temporally dynamic manner.

scholarly journals Information-based taste maps in insular cortex are shaped by stimulus concentration

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
E Porcu ◽  
KM Benz ◽  
F Ball ◽  
C Tempelmann ◽  
M Hanke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complex Function ◽  
Insular Cortex ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Ingestive Behavior ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Potential Harm ◽  
Taste Processing ◽  
Human Participants ◽  
Multivariate Pattern

AbstractTaste processing is an essential ability in all animals signaling potential harm or benefit of ingestive behavior. Although the peripheral taste coding is well understood, current evidence for central taste processing remains contradictory. To address this issue, human participants judged pleasantness and intensity of low and high-concentration tastes (salty, sweet, sour, bitter) in two fMRI-experiments. High-resolution fMRI and multivariate pattern analysis were used to characterize taste-related informational content in human gustatory cortex (GC). Clusters within GC were narrowly tuned to specific tastants consistently across tasks. Importantly, taste concentrations completely altered the spatial layout of putative taste-specific maps with distinct, non-overlapping patterns for each taste category at different concentration levels. Together, our results point at population-level representations in human GC as a complex function of taste category and concentration.

scholarly journals Altered Insula Response to Sweet Taste Processing After Recovery From Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa

2013 ◽  
Vol 170 (10) ◽  
pp. 1143-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyson A. Oberndorfer ◽  
Guido K.W. Frank ◽  
Alan N. Simmons ◽  
Angela Wagner ◽  
Danyale McCurdy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bulimia Nervosa ◽  
Sweet Taste ◽  
Taste Processing

scholarly journals Cortical processing of chemosensory and hedonic features of taste in active licking mice

2020 ◽  
Vol 123 (5) ◽  
pp. 1995-2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecilia G. Bouaichi ◽  
Roberto Vincis
Keyword(s):  
Neural Dynamics ◽  
Cortical Processing ◽  
Gustatory Cortex ◽  
Basic Taste ◽  
Taste Processing

Relatively little information is available on the neural dynamics of taste processing in the mouse gustatory cortex (GC). In this study we investigate how the GC encodes chemosensory and palatability features of a wide panel of gustatory stimuli when actively sampled through licking. Our results show that GC neurons broadly encode basic taste qualities but also process taste hedonics and licking information in a temporally dynamic manner.

scholarly journals Taste coding strategies in insular cortex

2020 ◽  
Vol 245 (5) ◽  
pp. 448-455
Author(s):  
Stephanie M Staszko ◽  
John D Boughter ◽  
Max L Fletcher
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Organization ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Insular Cortex ◽  
Taste Quality ◽  
Temporal Organization ◽  
Cortical Representation ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Coding Strategies ◽  
Taste Processing ◽  
Taste Coding

While the cortical representation of sensory stimuli is well described for some sensory systems, a clear understanding of the cortical representation of taste stimuli remains elusive. Recent investigations have focused on both spatial and temporal organization of taste responses in the putative taste region of insular cortex. This review highlights recent literature focused on spatiotemporal coding strategies in insular cortex. These studies are examined in the context of the organization and function of the entire insular cortex, rather than a specific gustatory region of insular cortex. In regard to a taste quality-specific map, imaging studies have reported conflicting results, whereas electrophysiology studies have described a broad distribution of taste-responsive neurons found throughout insular cortex with no spatial organization. The current collection of evidence suggests that insular cortex may be organized into a hedonic or “viscerotopic” map, rather than one ordered according to taste quality. Further, it has been proposed that cortical taste responses can be separated into temporal “epochs” representing stimulus identity and palatability. This coding strategy presents a potential framework, whereby the coordinated activity of a population of neurons allows for the same neurons to respond to multiple taste stimuli or even other sensory modalities, a well-documented phenomenon in insular cortex neurons. However, these representations may not be static, as several studies have demonstrated that both spatial representation and temporal dynamics of taste coding change with experience. Collectively, these studies suggest that cortical taste representation is not organized in a spatially discrete map, but rather is plastic and spatially dispersed, using temporal information to encode multiple types of information about ingested stimuli. Impact statement The organization of taste coding in insular cortex is widely debated. While early work has focused on whether taste quality is encoded via labeled line or ensemble mechanisms, recent work has attempted to delineate the spatial organization and temporal components of taste processing in insular cortex. Recent imaging and electrophysiology studies have reported conflicting results in regard to the spatial organization of cortical taste responses, and many studies ignore potentially important temporal dynamics when investigating taste processing. This review highlights the latest research in these areas and examines them in the context of the anatomy and physiology of the insular cortex in general to provide a more comprehensive description of taste coding in insular cortex.

scholarly journals Taste processing in Drosophila larvae

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthi A. Apostolopoulou ◽  
Anna Rist ◽  
Andreas S. Thum
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Larvae ◽  
Taste Processing

scholarly journals A comparative analysis of neural taste processing in animals

2011 ◽  
Vol 366 (1574) ◽  
pp. 2171-2180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriela de Brito Sanchez ◽  
Martin Giurfa
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Taste Perception ◽  
Gustatory Receptor ◽  
Central Processing ◽  
Pattern Processing ◽  
Central Nervous Systems ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Taste Processing ◽  
Fibre Pattern

Understanding taste processing in the nervous system is a fundamental challenge of modern neuroscience. Recent research on the neural bases of taste coding in invertebrates and vertebrates allows discussion of whether labelled-line or across-fibre pattern encoding applies to taste perception. While the former posits that each gustatory receptor responds to one stimulus or a very limited range of stimuli and sends a direct ‘line’ to the central nervous system to communicate taste information, the latter postulates that each gustatory receptor responds to a wider range of stimuli so that the entire population of taste-responsive neurons participates in the taste code. Tastes are represented in the brain of the fruitfly and of the rat by spatial patterns of neural activity containing both distinct and overlapping regions, which are in accord with both labelled-line and across-fibre pattern processing of taste, respectively. In both animal models, taste representations seem to relate to the hedonic value of the tastant (e.g. palatable versus non-palatable). Thus, although the labelled-line hypothesis can account for peripheral taste processing, central processing remains either unknown or differs from a pure labelled-line coding. The essential task for a neuroscience of taste is, therefore, to determine the connectivity of taste-processing circuits in central nervous systems. Such connectivity may determine coding strategies that differ significantly from both the labelled-line and the across-fibre pattern models.

scholarly journals Taste Processing: Whetting our appetites

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. R453-R455 ◽  
Author(s):  
David V. Smith ◽  
Frank L. Margolis
Keyword(s):  
Taste Processing
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