Multiple sensitivity to chemical stimuli in single human taste papillae.

Physiology & Behavior
S L Bealer, D V Smith

Abstract

The sensitivities of 15 human fungiform papillae were tested using a 5-alternative forced-choice procedure. Subjects were aked to recognize which of the following stimuli was presented to a papilla on each of 250 trials: 5.0 M NaCl, 0.5 N citric acid, 1.0 M quinine hydrochloride, and distilled H2O. Solution droplets were delivered to individual papillae from 0.5 mm diameter platinum wire loops. Based on each subject's responses to distilled H2O, corrections were made for individual response biases. Of the papillae tested, 33 percent responded to all four compounds, 33 percent to three, none to only two, 20 percent to only one, and 13 percent to none of the chemical stimuli. These results are contradictory to earlier work, in which it was suggested that taste quality is encoded by chemically specific papillae, but are consistent with the electrophysiological data suggesting multiple sensitivity of mammalian gustatory receptor cells and first-order neurons. The data suggested that the narrow range of sensitivity reported by von Békésy [2] was determined by the reciprocal relationship between the size of the stimulated area and the concentration necessary to elicit a threshold sensation.

References

Jan 14, 1972·Science·N B McCutcheon, J Saunders
May 23, 1959·Nature·A R LAWRENCE, L N FERGUSON
Oct 1, 1961·Journal of Cellular and Comparative Physiology·K KIMURA, L M BEIDLER

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Citations

Jun 1, 1990·Physiology & Behavior·I J Miller, F E Reedy
Dec 1, 1979·Scandinavian Journal of Dental Research·K Arvidson
Aug 1, 1981·Scandinavian Journal of Dental Research·K ArvidsonU Friberg
Mar 7, 2008·American Journal of Physiology. Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology·Limin MaoCheng-Shu Li
Jun 6, 2008·Journal of Neurophysiology·Young K Cho, Cheng-Shu Li
Aug 1, 1978·Perceptual and Motor Skills·J T Kuznicki
May 1, 1986·Developmental Psychobiology·J R GanchrowS Canetto
Aug 15, 1980·Science·K Arvidson, U Friberg

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