Many nutritionally beneficial plants contain bitter compounds that may cause people to exclude them from their diets. The perception of these compounds has been hypothesized to be modulated by the interaction of salivary proteins, but the effect of these proteins on the response of the taste nerves has yet to be studied. Our study is the first to demonstrate an effect of salivary proteins in diminishing the response of the chorda tympani nerve to quinine. In a follow-up experiment, we demonstrate that these salivary proteins are able to precipitate quinine out of solution, which may interfere with its ability to stimulate the taste receptors. These data suggest a role of salivary proteins in modulating bitter taste perception. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester 2015. / May 21, 2015. / bitter, electrophysiology, quinine, saliva, tannin, taste / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Contreras, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Zuoxin Wang, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Ann-Marie Torregrossa, Committee Member; Colleen Kelley, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_273650 |
| Contributors | Paedae, Andrew B. (Andrew Brennan) (authoraut), Contreras, Robert J. (Robert John), 1948- (professor co-directing thesis), Wang, Zuoxin (professor co-directing thesis), Torregrossa, Ann-Marie (committee member), Kelley, Colleen M. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Psychology (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (47 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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