Sodium Taste During Sodium Appetite

Sodium appetite appears to be an excellent model to study the neural mechanisms of motivation. In this issue of Chemical Senses, experiments by St John (2016) challenge 2 hypotheses for how a systemic sodium deficit guides an animal to find and ingest more Na ions in the environment. Both hypotheses...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chemical senses 2017-02, Vol.42 (2), p.91-92
Main Author: Norgren, Ralph
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Appetite - drug effects
Appetite - physiology
Eating - drug effects
Eating - physiology
Humans
Motivation
Sodium Chloride, Dietary - administration & dosage
Sodium Chloride, Dietary - metabolism
Sodium Chloride, Dietary - pharmacology
Taste - physiology
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Summary:Sodium appetite appears to be an excellent model to study the neural mechanisms of motivation. In this issue of Chemical Senses, experiments by St John (2016) challenge 2 hypotheses for how a systemic sodium deficit guides an animal to find and ingest more Na ions in the environment. Both hypotheses deal with modifications of the sensory neural code produced by Na ions on the tongue. One envisions a change in the Na signal amplitude. A reduction could make the strong Na signals less aversive; an increase, weak signals more noticeable. The other hypothesis requires no changes in the identity or amplitude of the Na signal, but a shift in its hedonic tone toward sweetness or reward. The results of the 3 behavioral experiments render both explanations unlikely but fail to suggest alternatives.
ISSN:0379-864X
1464-3553
DOI:10.1093/chemse/bjw112