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 to quicker taste perception. Our study demonstrates the novelty of modeling the human tongue as a porous material to drastically simplify computational approaches and that peripheral transport processes may significantly affect the temporal profile of taste perception, at least to sweet and salty compounds.
Highlights
Temporal precision in sensory perceptions is important to their physiological functions—it is how we can see and respond to oncoming traffic or echo-locate a sound source
Taste perception is an important gateway for food selection, food intake, energy and nutrition balance–as world is facing epidemic of obesity and diabetes
Modeling fluid transport exactly in every fiber or every pore of a porous material is highly complex and almost impossible; the common approach is to model it based on key material properties[13,14,15]
Summary
Temporal precision in sensory perceptions is important to their physiological functions—it is how we can see and respond to oncoming traffic or echo-locate a sound source. A porous-medium model for human tongue surface with implications for taste perception. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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