How hunger makes food tastier
Study identifies the neural circuits that cause hunger-induced increases in the preference for sweet foods and decreased sensitivity to aversive tastes.... Read More...
taste
Researchers hone in on the elusive receptor for sour taste
OTOP1 has been confirmed as a sour taste receptor. The protein is essential and sufficient for sour taste receptor cells to respond to acids and stimulate the nerves that enable sour taste perception.... Read More...
Obesity tied to weakened response to taste
High-fat diets produce blunted, more prevalent responses to taste in the brain and weaken the association of taste responses with ingestive behaviors.... Read More...
Posture impacts how you perceive your food
Whether you stand up to eat or sit for dinner, your posture influences how much you enjoy your meal. Standing to eat mutes taste perception and reduces sensory sensitivity, resulting in a decreased enjoyment of food.... Read More...
Neurons that encode sweetness identified: Mouse study
SatB2PBN-expressing neurons in the parabrachial nucleus play a key role in processing and encoding sweet tastes. The SatB2PBN neurons relay sweet taste signals from the gustatory thalamus to the cortex in mouse models.... Read More...
Genes linked to psychoactive properties of beverages may explain why we love coffee, beer and soda
Genes related to the psychoactive properties of sweet and bitter beverages, and not variations in our taste genes, may explain why some people prefer sodas over coffee, and vice-versa. ... Read More...
Smelling with your tongue: Functional olfactory receptors in human taste center identified
Functional olfactory receptors have been identified in human taste cells. The findings suggest olfactory receptors play a role in the taste system by interacting with taste receptors on the tongue. The brain, researchers say, combines input from taste, smell and other senses to create a multi-modal sensation of flavor.... Read More...
Neuroscientists Find Brain Pathway Supporting an Intersection of Taste and Pain
Researchers have identified a pathway near the midbrain where neural messages for taste and pain converge, a new study reports.... Read More...
How Animals Remember and Find Their Way Back to Food Sources
Study reveals the hippocampus may overlay existing mental maps with information about reward and hazard derived from food found in specific locations.... Read More...
Why We Shouldn’t Like Coffee, But We Do
Researchers question why many of us are unable to live without our daily cup of coffee. According to a new study, bitter tastes are a natural warning system to protect the body from harmful substances, yet people with heightened ability to detect the bitter taste of coffee learn to associate it with positive things and tend to drink more than those with lower sensitivity. Researchers say this sensitivity is caused by genetic variants. ... Read More...
Eating with Your Eyes: Virtual Reality Can Alter Taste
A new virtual reality study reveals people's perception of taste can be altered by what they experience in their surroundings.... Read More...
How the Brain Detects, Identifies and Acts on Taste
A new EEG study sheds light on how we identify and discriminate between tastes to assess if a substance is nutritious or toxic.... Read More...