NISBETT, R. E., L. R. HANSON, JR., A. HARRIS AND A. STAIR. Taste responsiveness, we&ht loss, and the ponderostat. PHYSIOL. BEHAV. 11(S) 641-645,1973.-Rats which lost weight due to exercise showed increased acceptance of good tasting food and increased rejection of bad tasting food. This indicates that energy deficit results in heightened taste responsiveness and suggests that obese human beings...

Patrons of a pub evaluated regular beer and "MIT brew" (regular beer plus a few drops of balsamic vinegar) in one of three conditions. One group tasted the samples blind (the secret ingredient was never disclosed). A second group was informed of the contents before tasting. A third group learned of the secret ingredient immediately after tasting, but prior to indicating their preference. Not su...

Nasal trigeminal chemosensitivity in mice and rats is mediated in part by epithelial solitary chemoreceptor (chemosensory) cells (SCCs), but the exact role of these cells in chemoreception is unclear. Histological evidence suggests that SCCs express elements of the bitter taste transduction pathway including T2R (bitter taste) receptors, the G protein alpha-gustducin, PLCbeta2, and TRPM5, leadi...

An experiment in beer tasting among 18 first year pre-clinical students showed that only two appeared to be able to discriminate light from bitter ale correctly. As a whole the group did worse than would be expected by guessing at random on each tasting trial. Some psychological biases, one possibly as a result of the design, are indicated by the results and a possible remedy suggested. The dan...

The G-protein subunit alpha-gustducin, which is similar to rod transducin, has been implicated in the transduction of both sweet- and bitter-tasting substances. In rodents, there are differences in sensitivity to sweet and bitter stimuli in different populations of taste buds. Rat fungiform taste buds are more responsive to salts than to sweet stimuli, whereas those on the palate respond predom...

A substance commercially described as 'sugar free,' used as a sweetener for paracetamol suspension, was evaluated on measures of neonatal pain. Sixty infants were randomly allocated to receive one of four solutions before heel stab blood sampling: sterile water (placebo); 25 or 50% sucrose (weight/volume); and the commercial sweet-tasting solution. There was a significant reduction in crying ti...