Neuroscience
From an NIH press release earlier today:
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Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
- Day 4 Of Digest Super Week: The Supertaster Who Researches Supertasting
Professor Charles SpenceCharles Spence: I study supertasters Everyone would like to be a supertaster, right? “Supertaster” is the name given to those individuals (roughly a quarter of the population) who are more sensitive than the rest to tastes,...
- Choosing Between The Indistinguishable
Is it possible to have a preference for one taste over another without being able to distinguish between the two? That’s apparently the case with patient B, a 72-year-old man brain-damaged by Herpes simplex encephalitis in 1975. Patient B suffered bilateral...
- "how Sour Sweet Music Is..."
"How sour sweet music is..." Shakespeare wrote in his play Richard II "...when time is broke and no proportion kept!". The musician known to researchers as E.S. can probably sympathise with this quote more than most - she consistently experiences specific...
- The Insulta And Anorexia
graphic adapted from the New York Times Neurophilosophy points to a silly typo in a serious press release about a neuroimaging study in women who have recovered from anorexia nervosa: Sense of taste different in women with anorexia nervosa Imaging study...
- Tastes Like Teen Spirit
Two articles on antidepressants: one on the modulation of taste by serotoninergic and noradrenergic agents, and the other on an increased risk of suicide in young people on antidepressants, but not in older people. The first item is a study published...
Neuroscience
Taste
From an NIH press release earlier today:
NIDCD-funded Researchers Find Missing "Piece of the Pie" in Understanding Taste[ ... Read the full release ... ]
Scientists funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of the National Institutes of Health, are a step closer to unraveling the mystery of taste. In a study published in the December 2, 2005, issue of Science, researchers have pinpointed the chemical responsible for transmitting signals from the taste buds — small sensory bumps on the tongue, throat, and roof of the mouth — to the taste nerves leading to the brain. Today’s findings provide scientists with a more complete picture of this complicated process, helping advance the study of taste and taste disorders.
“People with taste disorders might not be able to enjoy the fun of eating and are at risk for other health problems, such as poorly balanced nutrition, so researchers are working to understand more fully how our sense of taste works,” says James F. Battey, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the NIDCD. “Until now, there has always been a missing link between the detection of chemicals in the taste buds and the transmission of chemical signals from the taste nerves to the brain. Through an ingenious use of genetic engineering, these researchers have finally been able to solve the puzzle.”
Using “knockout mice,” mice that are genetically altered to be missing one or more key genes, the researchers were able to narrow the field of possible chemicals to one: adenosine 5’-triphosphate, or ATP, a high-energy molecule that is also important for helping cells in the body to function. The scientists produced mice that are missing the genes that encode two key receptors found in taste nerves — P2X2 and P2X3 — both of which bind to ATP. They found that the taste nerves of mice lacking the P2X2 and P2X3 genes showed no response to taste stimulation, although the nerves remained responsive to touch, temperature, and menthol. These results indicate that not only are P2X2 and P2X3important in transmitting taste signals, but the chemical that they bind to — ATP — is also important.
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Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain
- Day 4 Of Digest Super Week: The Supertaster Who Researches Supertasting
Professor Charles SpenceCharles Spence: I study supertasters Everyone would like to be a supertaster, right? “Supertaster” is the name given to those individuals (roughly a quarter of the population) who are more sensitive than the rest to tastes,...
- Choosing Between The Indistinguishable
Is it possible to have a preference for one taste over another without being able to distinguish between the two? That’s apparently the case with patient B, a 72-year-old man brain-damaged by Herpes simplex encephalitis in 1975. Patient B suffered bilateral...
- "how Sour Sweet Music Is..."
"How sour sweet music is..." Shakespeare wrote in his play Richard II "...when time is broke and no proportion kept!". The musician known to researchers as E.S. can probably sympathise with this quote more than most - she consistently experiences specific...
- The Insulta And Anorexia
graphic adapted from the New York Times Neurophilosophy points to a silly typo in a serious press release about a neuroimaging study in women who have recovered from anorexia nervosa: Sense of taste different in women with anorexia nervosa Imaging study...
- Tastes Like Teen Spirit
Two articles on antidepressants: one on the modulation of taste by serotoninergic and noradrenergic agents, and the other on an increased risk of suicide in young people on antidepressants, but not in older people. The first item is a study published...