Gustatory hedonic value: Potential function for forebrain control of brainstem taste processing

Forebrain modulation of brainstem gustatory processing.

Taste information in rodents is carried to the rostral portion of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) by axons of the VIIth, IXth and Xth cranial nerves (Beckstead and Norgren, 1979). From the NST, ascending gustatory fibers project to third-order cells within the parabrachial nuclei (PbN) of the pons (Norgren, 1978), and in turn to multiple forebrain nuclei, including the thalamus, insular...

Gustatory Receptors: Not Just for Good Taste

A recent study has found that a Drosophila gustatory receptor is required for thermotaxis. With other fly gustatory receptors having been shown to act in the detection of CO2, nutrients in the brain, and light, the roles of the so-called 'gustatory receptors' clearly go way beyond peripheral detection of non-volatile chemicals.

The Taste for Variety: A Hedonic Analysis

Saliva and other taste stimuli are important for gustatory processing of linoleic acid.

Paradoxically, bilateral transection of the chorda tympani nerve (CTX) raises the taste discrimination threshold for the free fatty acid, linoleic acid (LA), yet the chorda tympani nerve (CT) is unresponsive to lingual application of LA alone. LA may require a background of saliva to activate taste cells, since CTX decreases saliva production through denervation of the submaxillary and sublingu...

Gustatory insular cortex, aversive taste memory and taste neophobia.

Prior research indicates a role for the gustatory insular cortex (GC) in taste neophobia. Rats with lesions of the GC show much weaker avoidance to a novel and potentially dangerous taste than do neurologically intact animals. The current study used the retention of conditioned taste aversion (CTA) as a tool to determine whether the GC modulates neophobia by processing taste novelty or taste da...