Chemical Senses

Odour detection thresholds, that we have previously obtained, have been analysed by a general equation for selective transport. It is shown that such selective transport can account for some 77% of the total effect. The remainder is due to a specific size effect, that might involve odour-binding proteins, and a specific effect for aldehydes and carboxylic acids. Our analysis raises

Gurmarin (Gur) is a peptide that selectively suppresses responses of the chorda tympani nerve to sweet substances in rats and mice. In the present study, we examined the effect of Gur on behavioral responses to sweet substances in C57BL mice. To accomplish this, we developed a new short-term lick test and measured numbers of licks for 10 s for sweet substances mixed with quinine hydrochloride (QHCl) in water-deprived mice. Numbers of licks for sucrose mixed with 1 or 3 mM QHCl increased with increasing concentration of sucrose from 0.01 to 1.0 M. Oral infusion with 30 micro g/ml Gur produced significant decreases in responses to concentration series for sucrose mixed with 3 mM QHCl, whereas no such effect by Gur was observed in responses to QHCl alone or QHCl-mixed HCl, NaCl or monosodium glutamate. The Gur suppression of QHCl-mixed sucrose responses, which otherwise lasted for 2-3 h, rapidly returned to approximately 80% of control levels after oral infusion with beta-cyclodextrin. These results are comparable to neural data previously found in chorda tympani responses, and thereby provide further evidence for Gur as a sweet response inhibitor in C57BL mice. In the other aspect, our newly developed short-term test can also provide a tool for measurements of taste-guided behavioral responses to sweeteners.

The European eel lives most of its life in fresh water but reproduces in sea water. Thus, we hypothesize that eel uses olfaction to sense environmental salinity and is consequently involved in physiological processes such as osmoregulation and migration. For this reason we expect that olfactory responses to the main cations present in the aquatic environment (Ca2+ and Na+) will be mediated by olfactory receptors, and such responses will change according to the physiological status of individuals. To test our hypothesis, we first assessed olfactory sensitivity to Ca2+ and Na+ by extra-cellular recording from the olfactory nerve of sea- or freshwater adapted eels. Also, we tested whether olfactory responses to Ca2+ may be mediated by the Ca2+-sensing receptor (Ca2+-SR) by assessing olfactory sensitivity to two known agonists of the mammalian Ca2+-SR; neomycin and spermine. The effect of the ion-channel blocker, tetracaine, was also assessed. Finally we studied the distribution of Ca2+...

Many classifications of odors have been proposed, but none of them have yet gained wide acceptance. Odor sensation is usually described by means of odor character descriptors. If these semantic profiles are obtained for a large diversity of compounds, the resulting database can be considered representative of odor perception space. Few of these comprehensive databases are publicly available, being a valuable source of information for fragrance research. Their statistical analysis has revealed that the underlying structure of odor space is high dimensional and not governed by a few primary odors. In a new effort to study the underlying sensory dimensions of the multivariate olfactory perception space, we have applied principal component analysis to a database of 881 perfume materials with semantic profiles comprising 82 odor descriptors. The relationships identified between the descriptors are consistent with those reported in similar studies and have allowed their classification int...

Despite the fact that humans experiencemixtures of odors and tastes each time they eat, little is known of their capacity to detect the individual components of foods. To investigate this capacity, 43 subjects were trained to identify three odors and three tastes and were required to indicate which of these could be identified in stimuli consisting of one to six components. Although the odor and taste components of most binary mixtures were identified, subjects encountered substantial difficulties with more complex mixtures with only two components being identified in the four- to six-component mixtures. In general, tastes were more easily identified than smells and were the only stimuli identified in the five- to six-component mixtures. Several mechanisms are proposed to account for the poor identification of components. Key words: analytical capacity, humans, odor–taste mixtures

Perception of odours can provoke explicit reactions such as judgements of intensity or pleasantness, and implicit output such as skin conductance or heart rate variations. The main purpose of the present experiment was to ascertain: (i) the correlation between odour ratings (intensity, arousal, pleasantness and familiarity) and activation of the autonomic nervous system, and (ii) the inter-correlation between self-report ratings

Despite considerable research investigating the role of 6-n-propylthiouracil bitterness perception and variation of fungiform papillae density in food perception, this relationship remains controversial as well as the association between the 2 phenotypes. Data from 1119 subjects (38.6% male; 18-60 years) enrolled in the Italian Taste project were analyzed. Responsiveness to the bitterness of 6-n-propylthiouracil was assessed on the general Labeled Magnitude Scale. Fungiform papillae density was determined from manual counting on digital images of the tongue. Solutions of tastes, astringent, and pungent sensations were prepared to be moderate/strong on a general Labeled Magnitude Scale. Four foods had tastants added to produce 4 variations in target sensations from weak to strong (pear juice: citric acid, sourness; chocolate pudding: sucrose, sweetness; bean purée: sodium chloride, saltiness; and tomato juice: capsaicin, pungency). Women gave ratings to 6-n-propylthiouracil and showe...

The central gustatory pathways are part of the brain circuits upon which rest the decision to ingest or reject a food. The quality of food stimuli, however, relies not only on their taste but also on properties such as odor, texture and temperature. We will review anatomical and functional evidence showing that the central gustatory system, in particular its cortical aspect, functions as an integrative circuit in which taste-responsive neurons also show sensitivity to somatosensory and olfactory stimulation. In addition, gustatory pathways are modulated by the internal state of the body, with neuronal responses to tastes changing according to variations in physiological parameters such as gastrointestinal hormones or blood glucose levels. Therefore, rather than working as the receptive field of peripheral taste receptor cells, the central gustatory pathways seem to operate as a multisensory system dedicated to evaluating the biological significance of intra-oral stimuli.

His early work was dedicated to the study of olfaction, and more especially (but not only!) to the influence of hormonal status and particularly sex hormones on variations in olfactory sensitivity. The originality of his approach and the precision of his experiments, executed ...