Trimeric sodium channels of the DEG/ENaC family have important roles in neurons, but the specific functions of different subunits present in heteromeric channels are poorly understood. We previously reported that the Drosophila DEG/ENaC subunit Ppk25 is essential in a small subset of gustatory neurons for activation of male courtship behavior, likely through detection of female pheromones. Here...

(1) In order to determine whether the responsiveness of neurons in the insular gustatory cortex is influenced by hunger, neuronal activity was analysed in it while macaque monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were fed to satiety. The responses of single neurons in the insular gustatory cortex to the protypical taste stimuli glucose, NaCl, HCl and quinine HCl, and to fruit juice, were measured before, ...

Insects sense the taste of foods and toxic compounds in their environment through the gustatory system. Genetic studies using fruit flies have suggested that putative seven-transmembrane gustatory receptors (Grs) expressed in gustatory sensory neurons are required for responses to specific tastants. We reconstituted sugar responses of Bombyx mori Gr-9 (BmGr-9), a silkworm Gr, in two heterologou...

A clinicoanatomic study of 12 patients with tegmental-type primary pontine hemorrhage proved the presence of a gustatory disturbance among other clinical symptoms on the same side of the tongue as that of the pontine lesion, and suggested the secondary pathway of gustatory sensation from the solitary tract nucleus ascends without decussation in the homolateral pontine tegmentum. These results c...

Mammalian sweet, bitter, and umami taste is mediated by a single transduction pathway that includes a phospholipase C (PLC)beta and one cation channel, TRPM5. However, in insects such as the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, it is unclear whether different tastants, such as bitter compounds, are sensed in gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) through one or multiple ion channels, as the cation ch...

The special sense of taste guides and guards food intake and is essential for body maintenance. Salty and sour tastes are sensed via ion channels or gated ion channels while G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) of the taste receptor type 1 (T1R) family sense sweet and umami tastes and GPCRs of the taste receptor type 2 (T2R) family sense bitter tastes. T1R and T2R receptors share similar downstr...

This paper illustrates how perception is achieved through interactions among the psychophysical functions of judged features of an object. The theory is that the perceiver places processed features in a multidimensional space of discriminal processes. Each dimension is scaled in units of discrimination performance. The zero coordinate of each feature is its level in an internal standard (norm) ...

This report reviews findings from studies that have investigated whether abnormalities in reward from food intake and anticipated food intake increase risk for obesity. Self-report and behavioral data suggest that obese relative to lean individuals show elevated anticipatory and consummatory food reward. Brain imaging studies suggest that obese relative to lean individuals show greater activati...