Neurological Disorders

CO₂ Modulates the Central Neural Processing of Sucrose Perception

Abstract

Elena Cantone, Anna Prinster, Rossella Cuofano, Antonella Miriam Di Lullo, Rosario Cuomo, Francesco Di Salle and Maurizio Iengo

The five universally accepted tastes, sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami (a savory sensation elicited by monosodium glutamate) have specific receptors in oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal regions [1]. The most credited candidates to the function of human primary taste cortex are the frontal operculum and the anterior insula; while the opercular cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex are thought to code for secondary gustatory functions, while the amygdale and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex are involved as hierarchically superior processing units [2]. Conversely, more is known on the peripheral pathway of taste, including the molecular dynamics of many receptors [3].