The consumption of alcohol is influenced by its taste, as shown by an extensive literature. Taste cues have been used in classical conditioning to induce aversion and diminish preference for alcohol. However, much remains to be learned about the taste of alcohol in humans. For example, only one recording has been published on how alcohol affects the human taste buds. The recording showed that alcohol elicits an initial rapid impulse activity in the chorda tympani nerve, which is followed by a second, slowly increasing nerve activity at higher alcohol concentrations. The recording revealed that pure alcohol elicits a taste sensation, but left many other of its effects on the sense of taste to be uncovered. Studies of the nerve response to alcohol show that rats, mice, cats, and dogs lack the initial rapid impulse activity that is observed in humans. The response to other taste compounds show that there are major species differences in the sense of taste. However, the sense of taste in rhesus monkeys and humans seems to be quite similar. A human type alcohol response is also recorded in the rhesus monkey. This proposal suggests recordings from the chorda tympani (CT), glossopharyngeal (NG) and lingual (NL) nerves in the rhesus monkey to study the taste of alcohol in humans. The following problems will be addressed: (a) What kind of response does alcohol elicit in the two taste nerves, CT and NG, (b) what taste qualities are elicited by alcohol, (c) what are the taste effects of the alcohol in alcoholic beverages, (d) is the function of the taste buds affected by blood alcohol, (e) does the consummatory pattern of alcohol intake affect the taste response to alcohol, (f) what are the effects of alcohol on the non-gustatory NL nerve, (g) is its response affected by blood alcohol? The results should have an impact on (1) treatment methods depending on the taste of alcohol (Aversion and preference for alcohol, Alcohol substitutes), (2) how the taste of alcohol is affected by blood alcohol levels and drinking rates (Alcohol tolerance), and (3) the taste of alcohol and the taste of alcohol in alcoholic beverages (Alcohol substitutes, Alcoholic beverages).
