Neural Coding Mechanisms in Gustation.
Abstract
Various aspects of the neural bases of taste were studied in rats. The main data were of the activity of single neurons in the peripheral nerve (chorda tympani) and medulla (nucleus of the solitary tract), although some studies were made of central taste projections with the 2-DG method, and data were obtained of the electrical-responses in the cerebellum to simulation of oral structures. The data were treated mathematically to determine various aspects of their organization; previous to this, such treatments were largely lacking, leading to conclusions contested in the present research. The present findings were that the previous conclusions that taste is organized in terms of 'four primary tastes' is an artifact of the methods used in characterizing the data; instead, the underlying organization is more continuous, as in the frequency dimension in audition, or wavelength in vision. This conclusion holds for both the stimulus and neural domains. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 15, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA090198
Entities
People
- Robert P Erickson
Organizations
- Duke University