St John S J, Markison S, Spector A C
Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611, USA.
Am J Physiol. 1995 Jul;269(1 Pt 2):R141-53. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.1995.269.1.R141.
Transection of the chorda tympani nerve (CTX) impairs taste-guided discrimination of NaCl from KCl in rats. We wanted to determine whether this discrimination recovers after chorda tympani regeneration. Experiment 1 showed that few taste buds regenerated 14 days after CTX, whereas substantial regeneration occurred 42 days after surgery. Experiment 2 demonstrated that rats trained before CTX could clearly discriminate the two salts when tested starting 49 days after surgery, whereas rats tested starting 8 days after surgery were severely impaired in this task. Rats tested starting 28 days after CTX were unimpaired, moderately impaired, or severely impaired on the discrimination task. Overall, discrimination performance was significantly related to the number of regenerated taste buds. Unilaterally transected rats tested shortly after surgery were nearly as competent as controls. These results indicate that rats can recover the ability to discriminate NaCl from KCl after regeneration of anterior tongue taste buds.
切断大鼠鼓索神经（CTX）会损害其通过味觉辨别氯化钠和氯化钾的能力。我们想确定鼓索神经再生后这种辨别能力是否会恢复。实验1表明，CTX术后14天很少有味蕾再生，而术后42天则出现大量再生。实验2证明，在CTX术前接受训练的大鼠，在术后49天开始测试时能够清楚地区分这两种盐，而术后8天开始测试的大鼠在这项任务中则严重受损。CTX术后28天开始测试的大鼠在辨别任务中未受损、中度受损或严重受损。总体而言，辨别能力与再生味蕾的数量显著相关。术后不久进行测试的单侧切断大鼠的能力与对照组几乎一样。这些结果表明，大鼠在前舌味蕾再生后能够恢复区分氯化钠和氯化钾的能力。
