Modulation of taste peripheral signal through interpapillar inhibition in hamsters

• Published in: Neuroscience letters 2004-03, Vol.358 (2), p.137-141
• Main Authors: Vandenbeuch, Aurélie, Pillias, Anne-Marie, Faurion, Annick
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Action Potentials - physiology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Chorda tympani; Chorda Tympani Nerve - physiology; Cricetinae; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungiform papillae; Hamster; Lingual Nerve - physiology; Male; Neural Inhibition - physiology; Peripheral Nerves - physiology; Single unit recording; Taste; Taste - physiology; Taste Buds - physiology; Trigeminal nerve; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
• ISSN: 0304-3940; 1872-7972
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2004.01.013

Single taste buds from fungiform papillae were iontophoretically stimulated with chemicals filling glass microelectrodes while a single unit was recorded in the taste pore of a neighbor papilla. High signal-to-noise ratio responses were observed in the recorded papilla as antidromic action potentials. These responses were possibly modulated by the simultaneous stimulation of another adjacent papilla. A decrease in the frequency of firing and/or both decrementing spikes were observed during such dual papillae stimulations. These inhibitory effects were not modified by the section of the chordo-lingual nerve, suggesting the tongue is able to process the gustatory information thanks to interpapillar negative feedback, prior to transmitting the signal to the central nervous system. Branched chorda tympani fibers can account for responses observed for single papillae stimulations; inhibitions and decrementing spikes may suggest the contribution of another mechanism of interaction between two different single fibers.