Publication Date:
1990-09-28
Description:
Basic taste qualities are thought to be perceived independently, yet discrete neural coding channels have not been demonstrated in the central nervous system. The response profiles of taste cells in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) of the rat were categorized into four groups, and the effects of amiloride, a passive sodium channel blocker, on each were determined. NTS neurons that responded specifically to sodium chloride (NaCl) or to NaCl and sugars were suppressed by amiloride; those broadly sensitive to salts, acids, and bitter stimuli were unaffected. Moreover, the response profile evoked by NaCl lost its distinctiveness after treatment with amiloride, becoming similar to those evoked by acids and quinine. Receptors that respond to sodium must relay their information through independent coding channels to identifiable subgroups of NTS neurons, the activity of which is responsible for the perception of saltiness.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Scott, T R -- Giza, B K -- DK30964/DK/NIDDK NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1990 Sep 28;249(4976):1585-7.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark 19716.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2171145" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Amiloride/pharmacology
;
Animals
;
Chlorides
;
Citrates
;
Glucose
;
Lithium
;
Lithium Chloride
;
Medulla Oblongata/drug effects/*physiology
;
Neurons/drug effects/*physiology
;
Rats
;
Saccharin
;
Salts
;
Sensory Receptor Cells/drug effects/physiology
;
Sodium Chloride
;
Software
;
*Taste
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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