Skip to Content
Merck
  • Superadditive opercular activation to food flavor is mediated by enhanced temporal and limbic coupling.

Superadditive opercular activation to food flavor is mediated by enhanced temporal and limbic coupling.

Human brain mapping (2014-12-30)
Janina Seubert, Kathrin Ohla, Yoshiko Yokomukai, Thilo Kellermann, Johan N Lundström
ABSTRACT

Food perception is characterized by a transition from initially separate sensations of the olfactory and gustatory properties of the object toward their combined sensory experience during consumption. The holistic flavor experience, which occurs as the smell and taste merge, extends beyond the mere addition of the two chemosensory modalities, being usually perceived as more object-like, intense and rewarding. To explore the cortical mechanisms which give rise to olfactory-gustatory binding during natural food consumption, brain activation during consumption of a pleasant familiar beverage was contrasted with presentation of its taste and orthonasal smell alone. Convergent activation to all presentation modes was observed in executive and chemosensory association areas. Flavor, but not orthonasal smell or taste alone, stimulated the frontal operculum, supporting previous accounts of its central role in the formation of the flavor percept. A functional dissociation was observed in the insula: the anterior portion was characterized by sensory convergence, while mid-dorsal sections activated exclusively to the combined flavor stimulus. psycho-physiological interaction analyses demonstrated increased neural coupling between the frontal operculum and the anterior insula during flavor presentation. Connectivity was also increased with the lateral entorhinal cortex, a relay to memory networks and central node for contextual modulation of olfactory processing. These findings suggest a central role of the insular cortex in the transition from mere detection of chemosensory convergence to a superadditive flavor representation. The increased connections between the frontal operculum and medial temporal memory structures during combined olfactory-gustatory stimulation point to a potential mechanism underlying the acquisition and modification of flavor preferences.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, powder, BioReagent, suitable for cell culture, suitable for insect cell culture, ≥99.0%
Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium bicarbonate, BioXtra, 99.5-100.5%
Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium bicarbonate, powder, BioReagent, for molecular biology, suitable for cell culture, suitable for insect cell culture
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, for molecular biology, ≥99.0%
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, BioUltra, for molecular biology, ≥99.5% (AT)
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, tested according to Ph. Eur.
Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium bicarbonate, tested according to Ph. Eur.
Supelco
Potassium chloride solution, for Ag/AgCl electrodes, ~3 M KCl, saturated with silver chloride
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride solution, BioUltra, for molecular biology, ~1 M in H2O
Supelco
Potassium chloride solution, conductance standard C acc. to ISO 7888, 0.001 M KCl
Supelco
Potassium chloride solution, BioUltra, ~3 M in H2O
Supelco
Potassium chloride solution, conductance standard B acc. to ISO 7888, 0.01 M KCl
Supelco
Potassium chloride solution, conductance standard A acc. to ISO 7888, 0.1 M KCl
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, AnhydroBeads, −10 mesh, 99.999% trace metals basis
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, AnhydroBeads, −10 mesh, 99.99% trace metals basis
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, ≥99.99% trace metals basis
USP
Sodium bicarbonate, United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Reference Standard
Supelco
ISA (ionic strength adjustment solution: 1 M KCl), 1 M KCl
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, 99.999% trace metals basis
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride solution, 0.075 M, sterile-filtered, BioXtra, suitable for cell culture
Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium bicarbonate, ReagentPlus®, ≥99.5%, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, BioXtra, ≥99.0%
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, anhydrous, free-flowing, Redi-Dri, ACS reagent, ≥99%
Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium bicarbonate, ACS reagent, ≥99.7%
Sigma-Aldrich
Sodium bicarbonate, puriss., meets analytical specification of Ph. Eur., BP, USP, FCC, E500, 99.0-100.5%, powder
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, ACS reagent, 99.0-100.5%
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, ReagentPlus®, ≥99.0%
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, anhydrous, free-flowing, Redi-Dri, ReagentPlus®, ≥99%
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, puriss., meets analytical specification of Ph. Eur., BP, USP, FCC, E508, 99-100.5% (AT), ≤0.0001% Al
Sigma-Aldrich
Potassium chloride, puriss. p.a., ≥99.5% (AT)