Journal Article

FZJ-2020-03938

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Macroscopic information-based taste representations in insular cortex are shaped by stimulus concentration

Porcu, E. ; Benz, K. M. ; Ball, F. ; Tempelmann, C. ; Hanke, M.FZJ* ; Noesselt, T. (Corresponding author)

2020
National Acad. of Sciences Washington, DC

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/26179  doi:10.1073/pnas.1916329117

Abstract: Taste processing is an essential ability in all animals signaling potential harm or benefit of ingestive behavior. However, current evidence for cortical taste representations remains contradictory. To address this issue, high-resolution functional MRI (fMRI) and multivariate pattern analysis were used to characterize taste-related informational content in human insular cortex, which contains primary gustatory cortex. Human participants judged pleasantness and intensity of low- and high-concentration tastes (salty, sweet, sour, and bitter) in two fMRI experiments on two different days to test for task- and concentration-invariant taste representations. We observed patterns of fMRI activity within insular cortex narrowly tuned to specific tastants consistently across tasks in all participants. Fewer patterns responded to more than one taste category. Importantly, changes in taste concentration altered the spatial layout of putative taste-specific patterns with distinct, almost nonoverlapping patterns for each taste category at different concentration levels. Together, our results point at macroscopic representations in human insular cortex as a complex function of taste category and concentration rather than representations based solely on taste identity.

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Gehirn & Verhalten (INM-7)

Research Program(s):

1. 571 - Connectivity and Activity (POF3-571) (POF3-571)

Appears in the scientific report 2020

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Database coverage:
; ; BIOSIS Previews ; Biological Abstracts ; Clarivate Analytics Master Journal List ; Current Contents - Agriculture, Biology and Environmental Sciences ; Current Contents - Life Sciences ; Ebsco Academic Search ; Essential Science Indicators ; IF >= 5 ; JCR ; NCBI Molecular Biology Database ; National-Konsortium ; PubMed Central ; SCOPUS ; Science Citation Index ; Science Citation Index Expanded ; Web of Science Core Collection ; Zoological Record

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