Monosodium Glutamate and Sweet Taste: Generalization of Conditioned Taste Aversion between Glutamate and Sweet Stimuli in Rats
Even though monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a prototypical umami substance, previous studies reported that a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) to MSG, mixed with amiloride to block the taste of sodium, generalizes to sucrose. These findings suggest that the taste of glutamate mimics the taste of sucros...
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Published in | Chemical senses Vol. 28; no. 7; pp. 631 - 641 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Oxford University Press
01.09.2003
Oxford Publishing Limited (England) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Even though monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a prototypical umami substance, previous studies reported that a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) to MSG, mixed with amiloride to block the taste of sodium, generalizes to sucrose. These findings suggest that the taste of glutamate mimics the taste of sucrose and raise the question of whether glutamate has a broadly tuned sweet taste component. To test this hypothesis, CTA experiments were conducted to test for generalization between MSG and several sweet stimuli: sucrose, glucose, maltose, saccharin and SC-45647. Strong bidirectional generalization was seen between MSG mixed with amiloride and sucrose, glucose, saccharin and SC-45647. Weak generalization was seen between MSG and maltose, and sucrose and maltose. None of the CTAs generalized to NMDA. These findings support the hypothesis that the taste of MSG has broadly tuned, sweet-like characteristics, possibly due to the convergence of afferent signals for MSG, natural sugars and artificial sweeteners. |
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Bibliography: | local:bjg056 istex:41E2C97E77C7AB46F3FE81F3F893507CAC51D5A4 Correspondence to be sent to: Eugene R. Delay, Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, 3333 Regis Blvd, Regis University, Denver, CO 80221, USA. e-mail: edelay@regis.edu ark:/67375/HXZ-ZW794JWB-W ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 |
ISSN: | 0379-864X 1464-3553 1464-3553 |
DOI: | 10.1093/chemse/bjg056 |