Magnetoencephalographic recordings were evaluated in five different states: normal condition, sweet, bitter, sour, and salt taste. Twenty-eight healthy volunteers, 14 male and 14 female, ranging from 12 to 50 years of age, were included in the study. The results showed that, in the normal condition, as well as in the sweet and the bitter taste, the male volunteers exhibited a higher count of low-frequency than high-frequency channels compared to the femal ones; in the case of the sour taste, there was no clear differentiation between the genders; with the salt taste, the female volunteers exhibited a higher count of low-frequency channels whereas there was no clear differentiation in the number of high frequencies between the gender. A discrimination in the spatial distribution of the frequencies provides novel insights into the identification of gender-related taste sensation.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings were evaluated for 25 healthy female volunteers, in five different gustatory states: normal, sweet, bitter, sour and salty. The study population was divided in two groups according to age: group A (10-19 years old) and group B (20-30 years old). There was a higher count of low frequencies (2 Hz) and a lower count of high frequencies (7 Hz) with increasing age, in all studied states. We compared each state for the frequencies of 2 Hz and 7 Hz between the two groups. Statistically significant differences were found in the normal and sweet states for the frequencies of 2 Hz and 7 Hz and in the salty taste in the frequency of 7 Hz. We also intra-compared the five states in group A and the five states in group B for the 2 Hz and 7 Hz frequencies. The results were not statistically significant. A differentiation in the distribution of the frequencies with increasing age may provide new insights into the age-dependence of taste quality brain centers.

Some difficulties that students face with two-dimensional motion are addressed. The difficulties addressed are the vectorial representation of velocity, acceleration and force, the force-energy theorem and the understanding of the radius of curvature.

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