scholarly journals Estimating affective taste experience using combined implicit behavioral and neurophysiological measures

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
A.-M. Brouwer ◽  
T. J. van den Broek ◽  
M. A. Hogervorst ◽  
D. Kaneko ◽  
A. Toet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Taste Experience

scholarly journals Temporally-precise basolateral amygdala activation is required for the formation of taste memories in gustatory cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elor Arieli ◽  
Ron Gerbi ◽  
Mark Shein-Idelson ◽  
Anan Moran
Keyword(s):  
Basolateral Amygdala ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Nucleus Basalis ◽  
Electrophysiological Recording ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Dynamic Activity ◽  
Gustatory Cortex ◽  
Taste Experience

AbstractLearning to associate malaise with the intake of novel food is critical for survival. Since food poisoning may take hours to affect, animals developed brain circuits to transform the current novel taste experience into a taste memory trace (TMT) and bridge this time lag. Ample studies showed that the basolateral amygdala (BLA), the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) and the gustatory cortex (GC) are involved in TMT formation and taste-malaise association. However, how dynamic activity across these brain regions during novel taste experience promotes the formation of these memories is currently unknown. We used the conditioned taste aversion (CTA) learning paradigm in combination with short-term optogenetics and electrophysiological recording in rats to test the hypothesis that temporally specific activation of BLA projection neurons is essential for TMT formation in the GC, and consequently CTA. We found that late-epoch (LE, >800ms), but not the early epoch (EE, 200-700ms), BLA activation during novel taste experience is essential for normal CTA, for early c-Fos expression in the GC (a marker of TMT formation) and for the subsequent changes in GC ensemble palatability coding. Interestingly, BLA activity was not required for intact taste identity or palatability perceptions. We further show that BLA-LE information is transmitted to GC through the BLA→NBM pathway where it affects the formation of taste memories. These results expose the dependence of long-term memory formation on specific temporal windows during sensory responses and the distributed circuits supporting this dependence.SignificanceConsumption of a novel taste may result in malaise and poses a threat to animals. Since the effects of poisoning appear only hours after consumption, animals must store the novel taste’s information in memory until they associate it with its value (nutritious or poisonous). Here we elucidate the neuronal activity patterns and circuits that support the processing and creation of novel-taste memories in rats. Our results show that specific patterns of temporal activation in the basolateral amygdala transmitted across brain areas are important for formation of taste memory and taste-malaise association. These findings may shed light on long-term activity-to-memory transformation in other sensory modalities.

scholarly journals Sensory nutrition: The role of taste in the reviews of commercial food products

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle. R. Reed ◽  
Joel D. Mainland ◽  
Charles J. Arayata
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Food Product ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Product Reviews ◽  
Purchasing Decisions ◽  
Consumer Review ◽  
Sensory Responses ◽  
Taste Experience

AbstractMany factors play a role in choosing what to eat or drink. Here we explored the role of sensation to explain these differences, drawing on consumer reviews for commercially available food products sold through an online retailer. We analyzed 393,568 unique food product reviews from Amazon customers with a total of 256,043 reviewers rating 67,553 products. Taste-associated words were mentioned more than words associated with cost, food texture, customer service, nutrition, smell, or those referring to the trigeminal senses, e.g., spicy. We computed the overall number of reviews that mentioned taste qualities: the word taste was mentioned in over 30% of the reviews (N= 142,768), followed by sweet (10.7%, N=42,315), bitter (2.9%, N=11,424), sour (2.1%, N=8,252), and salty (1.4%, N=5,688). We identified 38 phrases used to describe the evaluation of sweetness, finding that ‘too sweet’ was used in nearly 0.8% of the reviews and oversweetness was mentioned over 25 times more often than under-sweetness. We then focused on ‘polarizing’ products, those that elicited a wide difference of opinion (as measured by the ranges of the product ratings). Using the products that had more than 50 reviews, we identified the top 10 most polarizing foods (i.e., those with the largest standard deviation in ratings) and provide representative comments about the polarized taste experience of consumers. Overall, these results support the primacy of taste in real-world food ratings and individualized taste experience, such as whether a product is ‘too sweet’. Analysis of consumer review data sets can provide information about purchasing decisions and customer sensory responses to particular commercially available products and represents a promising methodology for the emerging field of sensory nutrition.

scholarly journals Taste Modulator Influences Rare Case of Color-Gustatory Synesthesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Catherine Craver-Lemley ◽  
Adam Reeves
Keyword(s):  
Rare Case ◽  
Taste Experience

We investigated the effect of a sweetness blocker on the synesthetic taste experience of a rare color-gustatory synesthete, E.C., for whom specific colors elicit unique tastes. Blocking E.C.’s sweetness receptors while the tongue was otherwise unstimulated left other taste components of the synesthesia unaltered but initially reduced her synesthetic sweetness, which suggests a peripheral modulation of the synesthetic illusion.

Sweet taste experience improves prosocial intentions and attractiveness ratings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Schaefer ◽  
Anne Reinhardt ◽  
Eileen Garbow ◽  
Deborah Dressler
Keyword(s):  
Sweet Taste ◽  
Prosocial Intentions ◽  
Taste Experience

The role of species for the acceptance of edible insects: evidence from a consumer survey

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (9) ◽  
pp. 2190-2204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Schäufele ◽  
Eric Barrera Albores ◽  
Ulrich Hamm
Keyword(s):  
Food Processing ◽  
Consumer Acceptance ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Traits ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Taste Experience

Purpose Even though insect products increasingly receive attention as a sustainable food alternative to meat, consumer acceptance remains low. The purpose of this paper is to test consumer acceptance of two different insect species with varying degrees of processing which led to different degrees of insects’ visibility. Design/methodology/approach Insect dishes that varied according to species and degree of visibility were presented to participants of a self-administered personal survey within a meal context. Consumer acceptance was measured through the willingness-to-try the different dishes, and a hierarchical linear regression was applied to estimate the role of insect species. Findings Consumer acceptance can be improved by focusing on different forms of food processing and different insect species. The lower the visibility of insects, the higher the consumer acceptance, independent of insect species. However, this is not sufficient to overcome consumers’ widely held rejection. Main barriers for consumer acceptance seem to be low social and cultural acceptance, fear of trying unknown products and a lack of taste experience. Originality/value A huge body of literature has examined determinants of insect consumption, but the majority of these studies did not consider the effects of insect species. The study’s main objective is to close this research gap while checking the most relevant individual traits as identified through a literature review: food neophobia and familiarity, social and cultural norms, awareness of benefits of insect production, meat consumption and socio-demographics.

Taste experience activates MAP kinase in the rat insular cortex

1997 ◽  
Vol 237 ◽  
pp. S10
Author(s):  
D.E. Berman ◽  
S. Hazvi ◽  
R. Lamprecht ◽  
R. Seger ◽  
Y. Dudai
Keyword(s):  
Map Kinase ◽  
Insular Cortex ◽  
Taste Experience
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