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| Hauptseite > Publikationsdatenbank > Mechanisms of Gustation: From Perception to Cognition |
| Hauptseite > Publikationsdatenbank > Mechanisms of Gustation: From Perception to Cognition |
| Dissertation / PhD Thesis | FZJ-2023-01356 |
2022
Abstract: Among the five senses, taste is the least investigated sense despite its importance as a gatekeeper to nutrient or toxin sensing and it plays an important role in guiding future dietary decisions which subsequently can impact our health. In this dissertation, three empirical studies presented here are aimed to better understand how taste information is represented and how this representation can be affected by external factors such as contextual information and aging. Study 1 (Chapter 2) investigated how taste is represented in working memory (WM) by assessing its capacity (Experiment 1: N = 21; Experiment 2: N = 20). Results show that the representation of taste can be resiliently maintained and up to three taste items can be reliably held in and retrieved from WM. Study 2 (Chapter 3) investigated how contextual information such as labels (e.g. ‘strong salt’ / ‘weak salt’) influences our perception of taste intensity and pleasantness, and when this modulation occurs, i.e. during early sensory processing or at a later stage after sensory processing is concluded as a higher-order cognitive process (N = 24). Results show that intensity-related labels shape taste intensity perception through top-down expectations at a later stage. The results are consistent with cognitive re-evaluation of the stimulus.The relative timing of the effect is incompatible with altered early sensory taste processing. Study 3 (Chapter 4) then investigated how aging affects taste sensitivity. Results show that in a group of healthy older adults (N = 251, age range: 50-81 years old), taste sensitivity is not substantially affected. Taken together, the research laid out here in this dissertation contributes to our understanding of the human gustatory systems. In particular, Study 1 significantly advanced our understanding of WM by evidencing that taste information can indeed be held in WM.
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