Electric taste may be described as the perception of a taste produced by passing a small current through the tongue. These studies were undertaken to gain some insight into its mechanism on both a neurophysiological and biophysical basis by recording electrophysiologically from the chorda tympani nerve of the rat in response to both electrical and chemical stimulations of the tongue. / The response profiles of chemical and electrical stimulations saturated at the same maximum response for each individual salt tested (LiCl, NaCl, KCl, and CaCl(,2)) indicating an ion specificity for electric taste. This observation supports the idea of iontophoresis of ions at these curent densities ( 300 microamps/sq. cm.). If the taste cells of the tongue were inactivated with either Iodoacetic acid or N - ethyl maleimide or removed with collagenase, then responses from the chorda tympani could only be obtained at these higher current densities. / A mechanism was proposed for electrical stimulations which accounts for the responses as a result of ion accumulation around the state receptor membranes. The membrane, acting as an anion exchanger, selectively accumulates cations to anodal current countering the charge with anions from the cell's interior. The magnitude of this accumulation is proposed to be a balance of ions being accumulated by the current and diffusing away, down their concentration gradient, into the bulk solution. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 44-02, Section: B, page: 0641. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1983.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75064 |
| Contributors | HERNESS, M. SCOTT., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 198 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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