A gustatory stimulator

Iannilli, Emilia; Beger, Marcel; Fürer, Raffaela; Hummel, Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2015.07.019

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Taste and rinse solutions were delivered with the GU002 gustometer (Burghart Messtechnik GmbH), which stores solutions in separate bottles that each supply a syringe pump with a check valve ( Iannilli et al, 2015 ). From there, solutions are transported via separate, 5-m-long Teflon tubes to a manifold outlet where they mount together with compressed air to a spray nozzle that atomizes the liquids to an even spray.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

As Soon as You Taste It: Evidence for Sequential and Parallel Processing of Gustatory Information

Wallroth

Ohla

2018

eNeuro

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The quick and reliable detection and identification of a tastant in the mouth regulate nutrient uptake and toxin expulsion. Consistent with the pivotal role of the gustatory system, taste category information (e.g., sweet, salty) is represented during the earliest phase of the taste-evoked cortical response (Crouzet et al., 2015), and different tastes are perceived and responded to within only a few hundred milliseconds, in rodents (Perez et al., 2013) and humans (Bujas, 1935). Currently, it is unknown whether taste detection and discrimination are sequential or parallel processes, i.e., whether you know what it is as soon as you taste it. To investigate the sequence of processing steps involved in taste perceptual decisions, participants tasted sour, salty, bitter, and sweet solutions and performed a taste-detection and a taste-discrimination task. We measured response times (RTs) and 64-channel scalp electrophysiological recordings and tested the link between the timing of behavioral decisions and the timing of neural taste representations determined with multivariate pattern analyses. Irrespective of taste and task, neural decoding onset and behavioral RTs were strongly related, demonstrating that differences between taste judgments are reflected early during chemosensory encoding. Neural and behavioral detection times were faster for the iso-hedonic salty and sour tastes than their discrimination time. No such latency difference was observed for sweet and bitter, which differ hedonically. Together, these results indicate that the human gustatory system detects a taste faster than it discriminates between tastes, yet hedonic computations may run in parallel (Perez et al., 2013) and facilitate taste identification.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

As Soon as You Taste It: Evidence for Sequential and Parallel Processing of Gustatory Information

Wallroth

Ohla

2018

eNeuro

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“…We used saccharin to elicit the taste quality “sweet” in the final EEG session because sucrose was not useful as a result of its high viscosity. High viscosity reduces the steep onset of the taste pulse and, hence, does not elicit ERPs (Iannilli et al, ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gustatory event–related potentials (gERPs) were first described by Funakoshi and Kawamura in (Funakoshi & Kawamura, ). Recently, a new‐generation of pulsed taste delivery device has been developed (Gustometer GU002/GM05; Burghart, Wedel, Germany) and has been demonstrated to elicit gERPs (Iannilli, Beger, Furer, & Hummel, ). Using this instrument, in the present study, we investigated age‐related differences of gustatory processing across a wide age range, from 18 to 70 years, using both psychophysical and electrophysiological measurements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age‐related changes of gustatory function depend on alteration of neuronal circuits

Iannilli

Broy

Kunz

et al. 2017

J of Neuroscience Research

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Studies on age-related gustatory function report a reduction of the taste function, but the degeneration of the peripheral papillae alone cannot explain this reduction. In the present study, we apply psychophysics and gustatory event-related potentials (gERPs) to explore age-related differences in the processing of gustatory information as indicated by the cerebral sources of the gERP. A total of 96 subjects (47 female), subdivided into four groups with increasing age, participated in the study. After olfactory and gustatory screening for normal function, the subjects were invited to two sessions of gERP acquisition. They received a randomized combination of five isointense basic tastants that were presented at a medium level. At the same time, we recorded scalp electroencephalography (EEG) from 128 scalp locations. Psychophysical testing for smell and taste function exhibited a significant decrease with age. Topographical analyses of the EEG delineated four basic topographical maps that explained the processing of taste in the pre-decline age range, with sources inside the relevant gustatory areas. The age-related change of gustatory processing was associated with the absence of a specific map with sources inside the cerebellum and posterior insula, and the temporal broadening of a map with sources in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus. These results confirm the hypothesis that the reduction of taste function with aging is not only due to degradation of gustatory peripheral tissues but is also related to different neural signatures in the central nervous system.

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“…The gustometer stores taste and rinse solutions in separate bottles that each supply a syringe pump with a check valve (cf. Iannilli et al, 2015). From here, solutions and compressed air are transported via separate 5 m long Teflon tubes to a manifold outlet within a spray nozzle that atomizes the liquid.…”

Section: Stimuli and Taste Deliverymentioning

confidence: 99%

Delta activity encodes taste information in the human brain

2018

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The categorization of food via sensing nutrients or toxins is crucial to the survival of any organism. On ingestion, rapid responses within the gustatory system are required to identify the oral stimulus to guide immediate behavior (swallowing or expulsion). The way in which the human brain accomplishes this task has so far remained unclear. Using multivariate analysis of 64-channel scalp EEG recordings obtained from 16 volunteers during tasting salty, sweet, sour, or bitter solutions, we found that activity in the delta-frequency range (1-4 Hz; delta power and phase) has information about taste identity in the human brain, with discriminable response patterns at the single-trial level within 130 ms of tasting. Importantly, the latencies of these response patterns predicted the point in time at which participants indicated detection of a taste by pressing a button. Furthermore, taste pattern discrimination was independent of motor-related activation and encoded taste identity rather than other taste features such as intensity and valence. On comparison with our previous findings from a delayed taste-discrimination task (Crouzet et al., 2015), taste-specific neural representations emerged earlier during this speeded taste-detection task, suggesting a goal-dependent flexibility in gustatory response coding. Together, these findings provide the first evidence of a role of delta activity in taste-information coding in humans. Crucially, these neuronal response patterns can be linked to the speed of simple gustatory perceptual decisions - a vital performance index of nutrient sensing.

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A gustatory stimulator

Cited by 13 publications

References 7 publications

As Soon as You Taste It: Evidence for Sequential and Parallel Processing of Gustatory Information

As Soon as You Taste It: Evidence for Sequential and Parallel Processing of Gustatory Information

Age‐related changes of gustatory function depend on alteration of neuronal circuits

Delta activity encodes taste information in the human brain

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