The loss of the ability to smell and taste occurs often and has strong, adverse effects on human behavior, often resulting in long lasting depression. Studying how taste is perceived might aide in preventing the loss of this sensory modality.
The aim of this proposal is to describe the hamster gustatory cortex, determine how sensory inputs are organized in this area, and determine the afferent and efferent projections of this area. The first objective will be to describe where lingual and extra-lingual stimuli are represented in the cortex. Chemical stimuli will be applied to one of the following: the anterior or posterior tongue, the soft palate and the epiglottal taste area. The hypothesis being tested is: There is an orotopic map in the gustatory cortex of the hamster. A second corollary hypothesis is: There is a cortical area which becomes active when the epiglottal taste area is activated. The second objective will be to examine connections between the gustatory cortex and other brain areas. First, an area will be electrophysiologically confirmed as gustatory and second, will be injected with either an anterograde or retrograde tract tracer. One hypothesis that will be tested is: Is there a topographic map of the parabrachial nucleus in the gustatory cortex? The third objective will be to determine how specific stimuli are encoded in the gustatory cortex. Specific chemical stimuli tactile and thermal stimuli will be applied to each lingual and non-lingual taste area where possible, the activity recorded with single unit electrodes and the location of these units recorded. The hypothesis tested is: There is a chemotropic map within each orotopic representation in the gustatory cortex.
| Gent, Janneane F; Shafer, David M; Frank, Marion E (2003) The effect of orthognathic surgery on taste function on the palate and tongue. J Oral Maxillofac Surg 61:766-73 |
| Gent, Janneane F; Frank, Marion E; Hettinger, Thomas P (2002) Taste confusions following chlorhexidine treatment. Chem Senses 27:73-80 |
| Barry, M A; Gatenby, J C; Zeiger, J D et al. (2001) Hemispheric dominance of cortical activity evoked by focal electrogustatory stimuli. Chem Senses 26:471-82 |
| Frank, M E; Gent, J F; Hettinger, T P (2001) Effects of chlorhexidine on human taste perception. Physiol Behav 74:85-99 |
| Formaker, B K; Frank, M E (2000) Taste function in patients with oral burning. Chem Senses 25:575-81 |
| Wehby, R G; Frank, M E (1999) NOS- and non-NOS NADPH diaphorases in the insular cortex of the Syrian golden hamster. J Histochem Cytochem 47:197-207 |
| Barry, M A (1999) Recovery of functional response in the nucleus of the solitary tract after peripheral gustatory nerve crush and regeneration. J Neurophysiol 82:237-47 |
| Hettinger, T P; Gent, J F; Marks, L E et al. (1999) A confusion matrix for the study of taste perception. Percept Psychophys 61:1510-21 |
| Gent, J F; Hettinger, T P; Frank, M E et al. (1999) Taste confusions following gymnemic acid rinse. Chem Senses 24:393-403 |
| Shafer, D M; Frank, M E; Gent, J F et al. (1999) Gustatory function after third molar extraction. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 87:419-28 |
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