Abstracts - Association for Chemoreception Sciences

The taste test intraclass correlations (ICC, single measures)
ranged from moderate to substantial agreement (0.47 NaCl,
0.50 quinine tongue tip; 0.75 quinine whole mouth). Both
PT trials classified 98% of the participants as normosmic.
There were good correlations between the individual PT odor
intensities (ranging 0.44 for grape to 0.72 for gas) and a moderate
overall ICC (0.56). The PT and olfactometer odor intensities
were correlated, averaging 0.5 (ranging 0.28 for chocolate to
0.65 for grape). Correct and incorrect odor identification was
consistent across the PT and olfactometer tests, averaging 86%
agreement. These findings show that, in ideal testing situations,
the NHANES protocol had very good reliability and the Pocket
Test corresponded reasonably well among normosmics with a
measure having more stimulus control. Acknowledgements:
NIDCD/NIH
#P243 POSTER SESSION V:
HUMAN TASTE PSYCHOPHYSICS;
OLFACTION RECEPTORS; TASTE DEVELOPMENT
Efficacy of sodium and glutamate in reducing bitterness in
children and adults
Kristi M. Roberts, Phoebe S. Mathew, Corrine J. Mansfield ,
Danielle R. Reed , Julie A. Mennella
Monell Chemical Senses Center Philadelphia, PA, USA
A central challenge of administering medicine to children is a
‘matter of taste’ because drugs, by their very nature, often taste
unpleasant with bitter taste being the primary culprit. As part
of an ongoing study on individual differences in bitter taste
perception, we present here preliminary data on ratings of the
bitterness of urea and propylthiouracil (PROP) with and without
the addition of a sodium gluconate or glutamate (putative
blockers) in a racially diverse group of 3- to 10-year old children
and adults. Using forced-choice procedures, each child and adult
was presented with all possible pairs of the four solutions for
each bitter agent (e.g., 0.5M urea, 0.3M sodium gluconate, 0.5
M urea+0.3M sodium gluconate, and water), one pair at a time,
and asked to indicate which of the pair tasted more bitter. The
data for each bitter stimulus were expressed as the proportion of
children or mothers that chose one member of the pair as tasting
more bitter and from this, each of the four solutions were ranked
according to subject’s ratings (1=least bitter; 4=most bitter).
Adults also used gLMS to rate taste qualities of each solution
in another session. Preliminary analysis revealed that most
children (75%) were able to complete the task; the vast majority
of those who did not complete the task were of the younger age
(