This project seeks to elucidate the mechanisms by which oral perceptual exp ience is generated. Since objective measurement of the various aspects of oral expe ence is fundamental to this effort, the selection and refinement of appropriate psy ophysical methods is a primary and continuing project concern. Currently, the routin assessment of taste is carried out using aqueous solutions representing each of the four sic tastes. Measures include both (detection) thresholds and judgments of intensity for aste stimuli at higher, more commonly encountered levels of strength. Olfactory functio is routinely assessed by a standardized test of odor identification. Assessments of sens ivity to local pressure on the tongue and to variation in the temperature or the vis sity, of an oral bolus are also available. These methods, applied to the study of age sociated changes, have provided insights into basic mechanisms of normal chemosensor perception. Oral perceptual changes may occur with oral or systemic disease and its tre ment, salivary gland dysfunction, or as an isolated complaint. Documentation that ensory function is impaired (eg olfaction in Sjogren's Syndrome) or that it is una ected (eg taste intensity following therapeutic irradiation) can each advance the und standing of the mechanisms by which the complex oral stimuli encountered in everyday li are perceived.
