Perceptual interactions in mixtures containing bitter tasting substances

• Published in: Physiology & behavior Vol. 56; no. 6; pp. 1243 - 1249
• Main Authors: Frijters, Jan E.R., Schifferstein, Hendrik N.J.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Elsevier Inc 01.12.1994; New York, NY Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Attention; Biological and medical sciences; Bitterness; Central Integration; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Food Preferences; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Heterogeneous; Humans; Male; Olfaction. Taste; Percept; Perception; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychophysics; Quinine; Saltiness; Sodium Chloride, Dietary; Suppression; Taste; Taste Threshold; Heterogeneous; Central Integration; Saltiness; Percept; Bitterness; Suppression; Human; Salty taste; Gustation; Central nervous system; Bitter taste; Information processing; Perception; Mixture; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 0031-9384; 1873-507X
• DOI: 10.1016/0031-9384(94)90372-7

Mixtures of Quinine HCl and NaCl elicit heterogeneous taste percepts. Each such percept consists of a bitter and a salt sensation. Using functional measurement in combination with a two-stimulus procedures, it was found that the NaCl suppresses the QHCl bitterness and that QHCl has almost no suppressive effect on NaCl saltiness. In addition, it was shown that the total intensity of the mixture percept is almost identical to the sum of the intensities of the bitterness and saltiness sensations-within-the-percept. As was found in earlier experiments with mixtures of other tastants, central sensory integration within a heterogeneous percept seems to be a fairly simple additive process.