Visual influence of shapes and semantic familiarity on human sweet sensitivity.

Vision influences taste. It is known that color plays an important role in flavor perception. However, the effect of other features of visual information such as shapes and semantic familiarity of words on the taste perception, particularly on taste sensitivity, is not clear yet.

Sweet preference modified by early experience in mice and the related molecular modulations on the peripheral pathway.

The sweet taste is of immense interest to scientists and has been intensively studied during the last two decades. However, the sweet preference modification and the related mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we try to establish a mice model with manipulated sweet taste preference and explore the involved possible molecular mechanisms.

Effects of early intraoral acesulfame-K stimulation to mice on the adult's sweet preference and the expression of α-gustducin in fungiform papilla.

Exposure to artificial sweetener acesulfame-K (AK) at early development stages may influence the adult sweet preference and the periphery gustatory system. We observed that the intraoral AK stimulation to mice from postnatal day 4 (P4) to weaning decreased the preference thresholds for AK and sucrose solutions in adulthood, with the preference pattern unchanged. The preference scores were increased in the exposure group significantly when compared with the control group at a range of concentrations for AK or sucrose solution.

Effects of mother's dietary exposure to acesulfame-K in Pregnancy or lactation on the adult offspring's sweet preference.

This study investigates whether mother's exposure to the artificial sweetener acesulfame-K (AK) during pregnancy or lactation affected her adult offspring's sweet preference. It was found that mother's dietary exposure to AK in pregnancy or lactation decreased the preference thresholds for AK and sucrose solutions in the adult offspring, whereas the preference pattern and the most preferred concentration for AK or sucrose solution were unchanged. Furthermore, the preference scores in the exposure groups were increased significantly when compared with the control group at a range of concentrations for AK or sucrose solution.

Facilitation of the development of fungiform taste buds by early intraoral acesulfame-K stimulation to mice.

The gustatory system is susceptible to anatomical modification by postnatal taste stimulations. This study investigated the effects of early intraoral infusion of acesulfame-K solution on the development of fungiform taste buds in mice. It was found that the acesulfame-K infusion increased the number, promoted the maturation, and enlarged the size of taste bud during the postnatal stages, compared with the age-matched controls.

A reliable method to obtain cells of taste buds from fungiform papillae of mice.

Taste buds consist of four kinds of cells which have distinct characteristics and play different roles in recognizing chemical compounds contained in foodstuffs. In this study we describe a procedure for separating viable taste bud cells from the fungiform papillae in mice. After sacrifice with CO(2), the mouse tongue was excised and immediately incubated in collagenase II and dispase II.

The relationship between fungiform papillae density and detection threshold for sucrose in the young males.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of fungiform papillae density with taste detection thresholds for sucrose of young male adults. One hundred and eighty two subjects aged 18-23 years (mean age: 21.9 +/- 1.

Regional differences in taste bud distribution and alpha-gustducin expression patterns in the mouse fungiform papilla.

The regional differences between distribution patterns and alpha-gustducin expression patterns of the fungiform (FF) taste buds were investigated in the adult mouse, using hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunofluorescence histochemistry on the most anterior region of the tongue (the first millimeter) through the intermediate region of the tongue (the last 1-4 mm). Paraffin sections were prepared from the tip to posterior regions (anterior and intermediate region containing the FF taste buds) of the adult mouse tongue. Results indicate that there were significant regional differences in size and density of taste buds, the cell counts of the single taste bud, and the alpha-gustducin-immunoreactive taste buds between the 2 regions.

Quantitative study of taste bud distribution within the oral cavity of the postnatal mouse.

The aim of this study was to investigate the age-related developmental changes of taste bud distribution within the subpopulations at different postnatal ages in the mouse oral cavity. Developmental changes of taste bud distribution on the soft palate, fungiform, foliate and circumvallate papillae in the mouse oral cavity were examined histologically at different postnatal ages. After paraffin embedding, complete serial sections at 10mum thickness were made and stained by routine hematoxylin-eosin staining methods.

Differentiation of alpha-gustducin in taste buds of the mouse soft palate and fungiform papillae.

We used alpha-gustducin, a type II taste-cell-specific G protein, to investigate the onset of taste transduction and its relation to the development of the soft palate (SP) and fungiform (FF) papillae taste buds in the mouse. Paraffin wax embedded sections were prepared from the SP and anterior region of the tongue of the mouse from birth until postnatal day (PD) 63. No alpha-gustducin-immunoreactive cells were observed on the day of birth.

Developmental change of alpha-gustducin expression in the mouse fungiform papilla.

Developmental changes in the distribution pattern of taste buds in newborn mouse have not been previously elucidated, and little work has been done to examine the postnatal alteration of the expression of alpha-gustducin in the mouse taste buds. In the present paper, we delineated the development and frequency distribution of the taste buds as well as the immunohistochemical expression of alpha-gustducin, a G protein closely related to the transduction of taste stimuli in the fungiform papilla from the birthday till the age of week 9. At birth, more than 45 taste buds (with or without pores) were observed on the fungiform papilla, then the number of mature taste buds increased rapidly, and resulted in 66% (80.