Journal
BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 120, Issue 3, Pages 580-589Publisher
AMER PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOC
DOI: 10.1037/0735-7044.120.3.580
Keywords
salt taste; nerve injury; greater superficial petrosal nerve; chorda tympani nerve; glossopharyngeal nerve
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Funding
- NIDCD NIH HHS [R01-DC01628] Funding Source: Medline
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Chorda tympani nerve (CT) transection in rats severely impairs NaCl taste detection. These rats can detect higher concentrations of NaCl, however, suggesting that remaining oral nerves maintain some salt sensibility. Rats were tested in a gustometer with a 2-response operant taste-detection task before and after sham surgery (n = 5), combined transection of the CT and the greater superficial petrosal nerves (GSP; 7x, n = 6), or transection of the glossopharyngeal nerve (GL; 9x, n = 4). Thresholds did not significantly change after sham surgery. Although the GL responds to NaCl and innervates nearly 60% of total taste buds, 9x surgery had no effect. However, 7x surgery increased NaCl detection threshold by similar to 2.5 log(10) units, greater than that reported for CT transection alone. These results suggest that the GSP contributes to NaCl sensitivity in rats and also demonstrate that the GL and perhaps the superior laryngeal and lingual nerve proper can maintain some NaCl delectability at high concentrations. These findings confirm the primacy of the 7th nerve relative to the 9th nerve in sensibility of NaCl in the rat model.
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