Abstract
The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of tastant stimulus duration on the brain response. The brain response was measured by electroencephalography (EEG) which measures neural processes with high temporal resolution and may therefore complement sensory panel assessments.
19 normal-tasting subjects (10 females, mean age ± sd: 27 ± 3) were stimulated with aqueous 0.5g/L sucralose in between continuous periods of non-chlorinated tap water to avoid somatosensory onsets. The sucralose stimulus duration was either short (~0.6s) or long (~4s) and presented in random sequence with 60 repetitions. The stimuli were delivered to the center of the tongue apex innervated by chorda tympani nerve. Brain response was recorded with 128 electrodes and the gustatory event related potential (GEP) was estimated by coherent averaging of all artefact free epochs.
Focusing on the FC5 electrode, which is located at the left frontotemporal region relatively close to the primary gustatory cortex in the insula, significant GEPs were obtained after 100ms (t-test) and the first peak occurred at 200ms corresponding to negative deflections at the temporal lobes for both stimuli. The long sucralose stimulation kept the GEP significant for longer and produced a larger peak occurring at ~1.6sec (t-test) while maintaining the characteristic negative temporal deflection as opposed to the short stimulation which produced frontal activity.
Instances of brain response to varying NaCl stimulus durations were demonstrated by Plattig (1991), while this study is the first to include multiple subjects and electrodes. Interestingly, we found that tastant stimulus duration was positively correlated with significant brain response duration at the primary gustatory cortex. Surprisingly, the long sucralose stimulation duration resulted in larger GEP peak amplitude above the gustatory cortex and may indicate higher intensity perception (Kelling and Halpern, 1988).
19 normal-tasting subjects (10 females, mean age ± sd: 27 ± 3) were stimulated with aqueous 0.5g/L sucralose in between continuous periods of non-chlorinated tap water to avoid somatosensory onsets. The sucralose stimulus duration was either short (~0.6s) or long (~4s) and presented in random sequence with 60 repetitions. The stimuli were delivered to the center of the tongue apex innervated by chorda tympani nerve. Brain response was recorded with 128 electrodes and the gustatory event related potential (GEP) was estimated by coherent averaging of all artefact free epochs.
Focusing on the FC5 electrode, which is located at the left frontotemporal region relatively close to the primary gustatory cortex in the insula, significant GEPs were obtained after 100ms (t-test) and the first peak occurred at 200ms corresponding to negative deflections at the temporal lobes for both stimuli. The long sucralose stimulation kept the GEP significant for longer and produced a larger peak occurring at ~1.6sec (t-test) while maintaining the characteristic negative temporal deflection as opposed to the short stimulation which produced frontal activity.
Instances of brain response to varying NaCl stimulus durations were demonstrated by Plattig (1991), while this study is the first to include multiple subjects and electrodes. Interestingly, we found that tastant stimulus duration was positively correlated with significant brain response duration at the primary gustatory cortex. Surprisingly, the long sucralose stimulation duration resulted in larger GEP peak amplitude above the gustatory cortex and may indicate higher intensity perception (Kelling and Halpern, 1988).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication date | 12. Sept 2016 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 12. Sept 2016 |
| Event | Eurosense 2016: Seventh European Conference on Sensory and Consumer Research - Palais des Congrés: Dijon Exhibition & Convention Centre, Dijon, France Duration: 11. Sept 2016 → 14. Sept 2016 Conference number: 7 http://www.eurosense.elsevier.com/ |
Conference
| Conference | Eurosense 2016 |
|---|---|
| Number | 7 |
| Location | Palais des Congrés: Dijon Exhibition & Convention Centre |
| Country/Territory | France |
| City | Dijon |
| Period | 11/09/2016 → 14/09/2016 |
| Internet address |