Influence of the Perceived Taste Intensity of Chemesthetic Stimuli on Swallowing Parameters Given Age and Genetic Taste Differences in Healthy Adult Women

Abstract

Purpose This study examined whether the perceived taste intensity of liquids with chemesthetic properties influenced lingua-palatal pressures and submental surface electromyography (sEMG) in swallowing, compared to water. Method Swallowing behaviors were studied in 80 healthy women, stratified by age-group and genetic taste-status. General Labeled Magnitude Scale ratings of taste intensity were collected for deionized water; carbonated water; 2.7 % w/v citric acid; and diluted ethanol. These stimuli were swallowed, with measurement of tongue-palate pressures and submental sEMG. Path analysis differentiated stimulus, genetic taste-status, age, and perceived taste intensity effects on swallowing. Signal amplitude during effortful saliva swallowing served as a covariate accounting for differences in participant strength. Results Significant differences in taste intensity were seen across liquids: citric acid > ethanol > carbonated water > water. Supertasters perceived greater taste intensity than nontasters. Lingua-palatal pressure and sEMG amplitudes were correlated with the strength covariate. Anterior palate pressures and sEMG amplitudes were significantly higher for the citric acid stimulus. Perceived taste intensity was a significant mediator of stimulus differences. Conclusions These data support the idea that sensory input transmitted via chorda tympani and trigeminal afferent pathways may lead to cortical facilitation and/or modulation of swallowing.

New chemosensory component in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES): first-year results for measured olfactory dysfunction

“…The gLMS scale provides data similar to magnitude matching, the gold standard procedure for assessing perceived intensity [21], is reliable [10, 22] while enjoying the advantage of being much quicker and adaptable to population-based samples. The gLMS has been used in multiple clinical [23, 24] and population-based studies [25, 26] to study variation in taste perception. The gLMS taste intensity measure captures a range of taste perception, from low to heightened taste perception (i.e., “supertasting”) [21], and allows the assessment of taste phenotype-genotype [27–29] and taste-diet-health [30–33] associations.…”

Orosensory contributions to dysphagia: a link between perception of sweet and sour taste and pharyngeal delay time

“…2005; Pelletier and Steele 2014) and patients who suffered central or peripheral neurologic impairment (Logemann et al. 1995; Pelletier and Lawless 2003; Cola et al.…”

“…Specifically, with a sour bolus, subjects demonstrated higher anterior palate pressures and stronger submental electromyographic activity (Palmer et al. 2005; Pelletier and Steele 2014), shorter oral transit times (OTTs) (Lee et al. 2012), faster onset of the oral stage and the triggering of the pharyngeal swallow (Logemann et al.…”

Chemosensory Properties of Pungent Spices: Their Role in Altering Nutrient Intake

“…The combination of taste and chemesthesis appears to be an even more potent swallow stimulator. High-concentration citric acid, possessing both a taste and chemesthetic component, generated a stronger swallow response than compounds with only irritant qualities (ethanol) or water (Steele et al 2012;Pelletier and Steele 2014). Combining olfaction and chemesthesis with daily 60-s olfactory exposure to black pepper oil for 30 days resulted in faster initiation of the swallowing reflex and increased blood flow to the insular cortex, an area of the brain known to play a role in dysphagia (Ebihara et al 2006).…”