Popular science has emphasized the risks of high sodium intake and many studies have confirmed that salt intake is closely related to hypertension. The present mini-review summarizes experiments about salt taste sensitivity and its relationship with blood pressure (BP) and other variables of clinical and familial relevance. Children and adolescents from control parents (N = 72) or with at least...

Behavioral and physiological studies have demonstrated a reduced sensitivity to several taste stimuli early in development. It has been suggested that this reduced sensitivity results from a late maturation of underlying transduction mechanisms. Little is known, however, about maturation of membrane properties of taste cells early in development. We have obtained whole-cell recordings from sing...

There is overlap between brain regions involved in taste and pain perception, and cortical injuries may lead to increases as well as decreases in sensitivity to taste. Recently it was shown that chronic back pain (CBP) is associated with a specific pattern of brain atrophy. Since CBP is characterized by increased sensitivity to pain, we reasoned that the sense of taste might also be enhanced in...

PURPOSE The objective of this pilot study was to determine the prevalence of coronal dental caries among children with different genetic sensitivity levels of taste, as determined by 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). METHODS Coronal caries and restorations in permanent and primary dentition were evaluated in 150 healthy school-aged children aged 6 to 12 years. A filter paper containing 6-n-propylt...