Many studies demonstrate that differentiation of certain sensory receptors during development is induced by their nerve supply. Thus the navigational accuracy of pioneering fibres to their targets is crucial to this process. The special gustatory elements of the facial and glossopharyngeal nerves are used extensively as model systems in this field. We examined the chorda tympani, the gustatory ...

reward and punishment representations in the human orbitofrontal cortex. Nat Neurosci 4:95–102. gawa H, Sato M, Yamashita S (1968) Chorda tympani fibers of the rat and hamster to gustatory and thermal stimuli. J Physiol 199:

Dysgeusia, characterized as an altered perception of taste to any one of the four major tastant qualities (sweet, salt, sour, and bitter), is frequently experienced after dental anesthesia and neuroma (middle ear) surgery. Many medications, ranging from antiinflammatory drugs and protease inhibitors to antihypertensive drugs such as amiloride, have also been found to disrupt gustatory perceptio...

Repair of the mitral valve is the treatment of choice for mitral valve regurgitation when the anatomy is favorable. It is well known that mitral valve repair enjoys better clinical and functional results than any other type of valve substitute. This fact is beyond doubt regardless of the etiology of the valve lesion and is of particular importance in degenerative diseases.This review analyzes t...

Taste buds are unusual in requiring ATP as a transmitter to activate sensory nerve fibers. In response to taste stimuli, taste cells release ATP, activating purinergic receptors containing the P2X2 and P2X3 subunits on taste nerves. In turn, the released ATP is hydrolyzed to ADP by a plasma membrane nucleoside triphosphate previously identified as nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-2 (N...

Combining unilateral denervation of anterior tongue taste buds with a low-sodium diet in rats results in a rapid, dramatic, and selective attenuation of neurophysiological sodium taste responses from the intact side of the tongue. The transduction pathway responsible for the attenuated response is through the epithelial sodium channel (Hill and Phillips, 1994). Current experiments extend these ...

A 60 year old man with features of osteogenesis imperfecta presented in biventricular failure with evidence of mitral regurgitation. He responded to conventional treatment but later collapsed and died at home. Necropsy showed a haemopericardium caused by a tear in the left atrium. There was also rupture of the mitral chordae tendineae.

Although approximately 30% of patients with endocarditis present with neurological complications, the development of meningitis in these patients is rare. This case report describes a female patient who developed meningitis as a complication of mitral valve endocarditis, and surgery was required for this patient due to acute heart failure resulting from the rupture of the chordae tendineae.