Rewiring the gustatory system: specificity between nerve and taste bud field is critical for normal salt discrimination.

Brain Research
Alan C SpectorEnshe Jiang

Abstract

Forty years have passed since it was demonstrated that a cross-regenerated gustatory nerve in the rat tongue adopts the stimulus-response properties of the taste receptor field it cross-reinnervates. Nevertheless, the functional consequences of channeling peripheral taste signals through inappropriate central circuits remain relatively unexplored. Here we tested whether histologically confirmed cross-regeneration of the chorda tympani nerve (CT) into the posterior tongue in the absence of the glossopharyngeal nerve (GL) (CT-PostTongue) or cross-regeneration of the GL into the anterior tongue in the absence of the CT (GL-AntTongue) would maintain presurgically trained performance in an operant NaCl vs. KCl taste discrimination task in rats. Before surgery all groups were averaging over 90% accuracy. Oral amiloride treatment dropped performance to virtually chance levels. During the first week after surgery, sham-operated rats, GL-transected rats, and rats with regenerated CTs displayed highly competent discrimination performance. In contrast, CT-transected rats were severely impaired (59% accuracy). Both the CT-PostTongue and the GL-AntTongue groups were impaired to a similar degree as CT-transected rats. These initially impaire...Continue Reading

References

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