Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Science. 2011 Sep 2;333(6047):1262-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1204076.
The taste system is one of our fundamental senses, responsible for detecting and responding to sweet, bitter, umami, salty, and sour stimuli. In the tongue, the five basic tastes are mediated by separate classes of taste receptor cells each finely tuned to a single taste quality. We explored the logic of taste coding in the brain by examining how sweet, bitter, umami, and salty qualities are represented in the primary taste cortex of mice. We used in vivo two-photon calcium imaging to demonstrate topographic segregation in the functional architecture of the gustatory cortex. Each taste quality is represented in its own separate cortical field, revealing the existence of a gustotopic map in the brain. These results expose the basic logic for the central representation of taste.
味觉系统是我们的基本感官之一，负责检测和响应甜、苦、鲜、咸和酸的刺激。在舌头上，五种基本味道由不同类别的味觉受体细胞介导，每种细胞都能精确感知到单一的味道质量。我们通过研究甜味、苦味、鲜味和咸味在小鼠初级味觉皮层中的表达情况，探索了大脑味觉编码的逻辑。我们使用体内双光子钙成像技术证明了味觉皮层功能结构的拓扑分离。每种味道质量都在其自己的单独皮层区域中被表示，揭示了大脑中存在味觉体图。这些结果揭示了味觉的中枢表达的基本逻辑。
