Taste of time: A porous-medium model for human tongue surface with implications for early taste perception.

ABSTRACT: Most sensory systems are remarkable in their temporal precision, reflected in such phrases as "a flash of light" or "a twig snap". Yet taste is complicated by the transport processes of stimuli through the papilla matrix to reach taste receptors, processes that are poorly understood. We computationally modeled the surface of the human tongue as a microfiber porous medium and found that time-concentration profiles within the papilla zone rise with significant delay that well match experimental ratings of perceived taste intensity to a range of sweet and salty stimuli for both rapid pulses and longer sip-and-hold exposures. Diffusivity of these taste stimuli, determined mostly by molecular size, correlates greatly with time and slope to reach peak intensity: smaller molecular size may lead t

SUBMITTER: Wu Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7271999 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature