Sweetness produced electrically on the tongue and its relation to taste theories

Abstract

Electrical stimulation of the tongue under controlled conditions produces pure sensations of the four basic tastes. These basic tastes correspond to four kinds of papillae which are distinguished by differences in their anatomical structures, their frequency response curves, and the times required for the buildup of sensation, but which all have about the same chronaxie. Although these findings do not favor the cluster theory of taste perception, adaptation experiments indicate that they do not disagree with the microelectrode recordings of nervous discharges of taste fibers in the chorda tympani. electrical taste; frequency response of the four specific taste buds; inhibition of taste sensations; interaction between taste buds; specific taste receptors; taste buds; taste units Submitted on March 2, 1964