Presented By: Biopsychology
Elliott S. Valenstein Lecture - Biopsychology Colloquium
Linda Bartoshuk, Bushnell Professor, University of Florida
Title: We live in different taste worlds: Supertasters and common pathologies
I grew up in a small prairie town in South Dakota in an era when women in science were a curiosity. Maybe this had something to do with my early interest in differences in how we perceive the world. In taste, there are genetic differences as well as common pathologies that affect the intensities of taste sensations. Individuals we called “supertasters” experience taste sensations that are more than twice as intense as the taste experiences of others. Supertasting affects dietary choices that affect health. Common pathologies (middle ear infections, tonsillectomies) can damage taste. Taste damage can produce some unexpected effects since there are inhibitory connections among the central projections of both taste nerves and nerves mediating other oral sensations (touch, pain, retronasal olfaction). Thus damage to taste can actually intensify some oral sensations when inhibitory connections are abolished. Damage to taste can also produce phantoms: sensations in the absence of obvious stimulation. Most recently my lab is collaborating with horticultural scientists to identify volatiles that can affect taste messages centrally. These volatiles have practical benefits (e.g., enhancing sweet and salty tastes) as well as clinical benefits. We can use some volatiles to bypass peripheral taste damage and restore some normal taste sensations to patients.
I grew up in a small prairie town in South Dakota in an era when women in science were a curiosity. Maybe this had something to do with my early interest in differences in how we perceive the world. In taste, there are genetic differences as well as common pathologies that affect the intensities of taste sensations. Individuals we called “supertasters” experience taste sensations that are more than twice as intense as the taste experiences of others. Supertasting affects dietary choices that affect health. Common pathologies (middle ear infections, tonsillectomies) can damage taste. Taste damage can produce some unexpected effects since there are inhibitory connections among the central projections of both taste nerves and nerves mediating other oral sensations (touch, pain, retronasal olfaction). Thus damage to taste can actually intensify some oral sensations when inhibitory connections are abolished. Damage to taste can also produce phantoms: sensations in the absence of obvious stimulation. Most recently my lab is collaborating with horticultural scientists to identify volatiles that can affect taste messages centrally. These volatiles have practical benefits (e.g., enhancing sweet and salty tastes) as well as clinical benefits. We can use some volatiles to bypass peripheral taste damage and restore some normal taste sensations to patients.
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