Human Taste Thresholds Are Modulated by Serotonin and Noradrenaline

Abstract

Circumstances in which serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline (NA) are altered, such as in anxiety or depression, are associated with taste disturbances, indicating the importance of these transmitters in the determination of taste thresholds in health and disease. In this study, we show for the first time that human taste thresholds are plastic and are lowered by modulation of systemic monoamines. Measurement of taste function in healthy humans before and after a 5-HT reuptake inhibitor, NA reuptake inhibitor, or placebo showed that enhancing 5-HT significantly reduced the sucrose taste threshold by 27% and the quinine taste threshold by 53%. In contrast, enhancing NA significantly reduced bitter taste threshold by 39% and sour threshold by 22%. In addition, the anxiety level was positively correlated with bitter and salt taste thresholds. We show that 5-HT and NA participate in setting taste thresholds, that human taste in normal healthy subjects is plastic, and that modulation of these neurotransmitters has distinct effects on different taste modalities. We present a model to explain these findings. In addition, we show that the general anxiety level is directly related to taste perception, suggesting that altered taste and appetite seen in affective disorders may reflect an actual change in the gustatory system.

Effects of Cigarette Smoking and Family History of Alcoholism on Sweet Taste Perception and Food Cravings in Women

“…Not only has a history of smoking been shown to reduce serotonin levels centrally (Benwell et al, 1990), but the acute administrations of Paroxetine, a specific serotonin reuptake inhibitor, in healthy individuals decreased sweet and bitter taste thresholds (Heath et al, 2006). Moreover, individuals with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a disorder postulated to be due to a decreased central serotoninergic function (Rosenthal et al, 1987), had higher taste thresholds for sweet, bitter, and salty tastes during the winter, when they are depressed, but thresholds normalized during the summer, when the symptoms of depression disappeared (Arbisi et al, 1996).…”

Wine and music (II): can you taste the music? Modulating the experience of wine through music and sound

“…The evidence here suggests that indeed it can. So, for example, it has been shown that a person's mood can influence their ability to detect both olfactory (e.g., [90]) and gustatory stimuli ( [91][92][93]). In one representative study, Pollatos et al [90] presented their participants with pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) database.…”

Signal transduction and information processing in mammalian taste buds

“…Serotonin may modulate the threshold of sensory receptor cells in the taste bud or alter membrane properties in taste bud cells [138,139]. Indeed, a recent report from L. Donaldson's laboratory shows selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors alter human taste thresholds for sweet and bitter via a peripheral mechanism [140]. Further investigation of the role of serotonin in taste buds is clearly needed.…”