Neural Processing of Amino Acid Taste Information

味觉生理学的一个基本问题是，在特定的神经纤维中是否存在特定类型的反应，或者是否存在跨纤维群体的敏感性连续体。这个项目利用鲶鱼非凡的味觉系统，它的味蕾遍布全身皮肤，研究对特定化合物和特定混合物的味觉反应的生理学。电生理记录将被用来确定氨基酸的味道“质量”和数量(强度)是如何在支配味蕾的面神经神经元中表示的。由于在现实生活中，味觉感受器很少遇到单一化学物质的顺序间隔传递，刺激将包括单一化合物和混合物，看看是否像无脊椎动物一样，对味道混合物的反应不是简单地从对单个成分的反应中预测出来的。通过脑干和高级味觉核团处理味觉信息的中央通路的细胞也会被记录下来。这种不同寻常的制备已经提供了大量关于味觉敏感性的基本信息，该项目将提供可能对味觉研究产生重大影响的结果。这一生理学也将补充目前在味觉生物化学方面令人兴奋的工作，对复杂刺激的分析可能对感官科学总体上是重要的。

A fundamental issue of taste physiology is whether there are specific types of responses in specific nerve fibers, or whether there is a continuum of sensitivities across the population of fibers. This project exploits the remarkable taste system of the catfish, which has taste buds all over the skin of the body, to investigate the physiology of taste responses to particular compounds and to particular mixtures. Electrophysiological recording will be used to determine how amino acid taste "quality" and quantity (intensity) are represented in neurons of the facial nerve, which innervates the taste buds. Since in real life taste receptors rarely encounter sequentially spaced delivery of single chemicals, stimuli will include single compounds and mixtures, to see whether, as in invertebrates, responses to taste mixtures are not simply predictable from responses to the individual components. Recordings also will be made in the cells of central pathways that process the taste information through the brainstem and higher gustatory nuclei. This unusual preparation has provided a wealth of fundamental information on taste sensitivity already, and this project will provide results that are likely to have high impact on gustatory research. This physiology also will complement current exciting work on taste biochemistry, and the analyses of complex stimuli are likely to be important to sensory science in general.