Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

New research identifies the ‘taste center’ of our brains

Sweet!

Alexandru Micu by Alexandru Micu
March 15, 2019
in Biology, Mind & Brain, News, Science

While brain regions handling sight, hearing, and other sensory systems have been mapped in the human brain, the one for taste has eluded us. New research, however, reports having pinpointed this “gustatory” cortex and its functions.

Snacks.
Image via Pixabay.

By merging together data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with statistical methods, a team of U.S. researchers has mapped out the brain regions responsible for handling different tastes in the insular cortex.

Tasty

“We have known that tastes activate the human brain for some time, but not where primary taste types such as sweet, sour, salty and bitter are distinguished,” said Adam Anderson, professor of human development at Cornell University and senior author of the study

“By using some new techniques that analyze fine-grained activity patterns, we found a specific portion of the insular cortex — an older cortex in the brain hidden behind the neocortex — represents distinct tastes.”

The insular cortex has a role to play in modulating emotional and visceral experiences. In Anderson’s words, it “represents experiences from inside our bodies,” and, as such, has been suspected to be the primary area for handling taste. Previous work has shown that this cortex processes information originating from inside our own bodies; input from our hearts and lungs, for example, gets crunched in this area.

Given the insular cortex’s occupational background, the team wanted to confirm whether or not it also handles the sensation of taste. Their results suggest that this is indeed the case, with the team finding evidence of a “sweet spot” — a specific area where a large ensemble of neurons respond to sweetness stimulation on the tongue — in this brain region.

“While we identified a potential ‘sweet’ spot, its precise location differed across people and this same spot responded to other tastes, but with distinct patterns of activity,” Anderson said. “To know what people are tasting, we have to take into account not only where in the insula is stimulated, but also how.”

Compared to previous studies (performed on animal models) which found clusters of brain cells that respond to basic tastes, the team found a much more complex activation pattern in the human brain as a response to taste. Anderson says that the insular region they’ve pinpointed responds to multiple types of flavours.

The team says that seeing taste being processed in the insular cortex suggests that the way we perceive taste is associated not only with what’s on our tongue but also with specific needs inside our body — namely, what nutrients our body is running low on.

The paper “Distinct representations of basic taste qualities in human gustatory cortex” has been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Research identifies a gene that makes our brains (and those of primates) unique
  2. The dead center of North America is serendipitously located in a small town called Center, North Dakota
  3. Research identifies the genes that make you go through puberty
  4. Biotech you can taste: you can now eat cultured eel meat grown the same way as research-grade organoids
  5. Honeybee brains could be a good model to study human brains on

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW