Abstracts - Association for Chemoreception Sciences

(Wave 2), assessing demographics, social life, and health,
including olfaction (N = 1436). Odor identification was
measured with 5 Sniffin’ Sticks (0-5 correct). Multivariate linear
regression quantified the association between olfactory decline
over 5 years and demographic, health and psychosocial factors.
Odor identification declined most rapidly in older individuals
(0.25 greater decline in number correct per decade of age,
P0.05). In addition to
having poor olfactory function, men and older people experience
accelerated olfactory decline, effects not explained by our
measured psychosocial or health conditions. We find no evidence
of accelerated olfactory aging explaining the health disparity
in Blacks seen at the Wave 1 and 2 time points, suggesting that
major insults to the olfactory system occur before middle age.
Acknowledgements: The National Institute on Aging (R37
AG030481 AG036762 AG029795), the Institute for Translational
Medicine at The University of Chicago (KL2RR025000), the
McHugh Otolaryngology Research Fund, and the American
Geriatrics Society.
#P148 POSTER SESSION III:
TRIGEMINAL; HUMAN OLFACTORY
PSYCHOPHYSICS; TASTE PERIPHERY
Receptor Representations of Perceptual Similarity
Andrew H. Moberly 1,2 , Lindsey L. Snyder 2 , Joel D. Mainland 1,2
1
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2 Monell Chemical
Senses Center Philadelphia, PA, USA
In the current consensus model of the olfactory code, the
recognition of an odorant molecule depends on which receptors
are activated and to what extent. Here we set out to determine
if the receptor-activation profile for a set of camphoraceous
odorants is more representative of the structural features or the
perceptual similarity. The camphoraceous odor class is unusual
in that despite their common perceptual odor character the
odorants do not share a common functional group (median
Tanimoto similarity = 0.14). Using a set of odorants described
as having a camphoraceous quality (Amoore, 1970), we tested
the similarity of the odorants in terms of molecular structure,
receptor activation profile in a heterologous assay, and human
perceptual ratings. Molecular structure was quantified using
physicochemical descriptors (Haddad et al., 2008). To measure
receptor-activation profiles, we cloned receptors representing
384 of the most frequent variants in the 1000 genomes data
set. We then tested the odorants against these receptors using a
heterologous luciferase assay. Human perceptual similarity was
assayed using an air-dilution olfactometer to obtain pairwise
similarity ratings. Preliminary results suggest that the receptor
array is more representative of structural features than of
perceptual similarity. Acknowledgements: R03-DC011373
#P149 POSTER SESSION III:
TRIGEMINAL; HUMAN OLFACTORY
PSYCHOPHYSICS; TASTE PERIPHERY
Taste-evoked Chorda Tympani Responses in C57BL/6J Mice
Vary Depending on Which Region of the Tongue is Stimulated
Rachel M. Dana, Stuart A. McCaughey
Ball State University Muncie, IN, USA
It is known that each taste bud is responsive to stimuli
representing all of the basic taste qualities. However, there is
also evidence that the transduction mechanisms that mediate
such responses vary depending on location in the oral cavity,
and the gustatory nerves differ in amiloride-sensitivity and other
properties. Although the peripheral taste-responsive nerves
have often been compared with each other, there have been few
attempts to consider whether the properties of a particular nerve
vary depending on which oral regions are stimulated with taste
solutions. We therefore measured taste-evoked chorda tympani
(CT) responses in mice while flowing solutions over the anterior
or posterior tongue separately. Subjects were C57BL/6J mice,
which were anesthetized prior to surgery to expose the CT. A
silicone rubber ring was used to divide the tongue into anterior
and posterior halves, and tastants were flowed selectively over
one half at a time while measuring whole-nerve CT activity.
Responses to NaCl and sucrose were significantly larger, but
responses to HCl and quinine were smaller, when stimulating
the anterior tongue relative to the posterior. The responses to
NaCl mixed with amiloride, however, were similar for the two
regions due to a greater suppressive effect of amiloride on the
anterior as compared to posterior tongue. Our data suggest that
the properties of CT fibers vary depending on the location of
the taste buds that they innervate. The characteristics of our
posterior tongue responses, in fact, were more similar to those
normally associated with the glossopharyngeal nerve than with
the CT. Additional work will be needed to delineate the relative
contributions of fungiform and foliate papillae to our posterior
tongue responses.
#P150 POSTER SESSION III:
TRIGEMINAL; HUMAN OLFACTORY
PSYCHOPHYSICS; TASTE PERIPHERY
Dried-bonito dashi: Taste qualities evaluated using CTA
methods in wild type and T1R1 KO mice.
Eugene R. Delay 1 , Takashi Kondoh 2
1
University of Vermont/Department of Biology Burlington, VT,
USA, 2 Ajinomoto/Human Health and Nutrition Research Group
Kawasaki, Japan
Dried-bonito dashi, a broth used to increase the palatability of
Japanese cuisine, is made from dried kelp, fish oils, shiitake
mushrooms, and other sources. Flavor enhancement is due to
olfactory and taste stimuli such as lactic acid, L-amino acids
(including glutamate), and inositol monophosphate (IMP).
Kawasaki et al. (2008) and Kondoh et al. (2012) report that rats
and mice prefer dashi in 2-bottle preference tests. We conducted
conditioned taste aversion (CTA) experiments to determine what
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
Abstracts are printed as submitted by the author(s).
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