Sally Eldeghaidy1, Martha Skinner2, Rebecca Ford2, Joanne Hort2, and Susan Francis 1
1Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 2Sensory Science Centre, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Thermal
taster status refers to a new taste phenotype in which thermal stimulation of
the tongue elicits a “phantom” taste in individuals. The mechanism behind
thermal taste is not yet known, but hypothesised to arise from entwined
gustatory and trigeminal nerves. Here, we use fMRI to perform the first study
to investigate
whether cortical areas respond to phantom taste. Subjects underwent fMRI to warming/cooling thermal
stimulation. Thermal
tasters reported a sweet taste as the taste most prevalent during warming/cooling
trials. We show that this “phantom” taste elicits significant activation
of primary gustatory cortex including anterior insula and anterior cingulate
cortex.
