Cross-talk in oral sensory systems: Failures of specificity or integrative processes?
Multiple Paper Presentation

Barry Green
John B. Pierce Laboratory and Yale University

     Abstract ID Number: 46

Abstract
Throughout the gustatory system are sensitive to mechanical and thermal stimulation. Theories of taste perception have ignored this multimodal responsiveness because of the absence of any obvious perceptual correlates. However, data will be reviewed which show that under certain conditions, temperature can evoke taste qualities ("thermal taste") and mechanical stimulation can influence the perceived location of taste. These psychophysical phenomena, and new data pertaining to both, will be discussed in terms of whether the interactions reflect failures of receptor specificity that add only noise to the afferent signal, or adaptive mechanisms that help integrate multimodal oral stimulation into coherent perceptions of foods, beverages, and flavor.

To be Presented at the Following Symposium:
The Multisensory Quartet - Smell, Taste, Chemesthesis, and Flavor.
Other papers in this Symposium:

• Pamela Dalton
  Monell Chemical Senses Center
  Superordinate integrations of olfaction, taste and chemesthesis
• Jeannine F. Delwiche
  Food Science & Technology, Ohio State University
  The impact of multi-sensory input on perception of flavor