GUSTATORY SYSTEM OF THE SOFT PALATE IN MAMMALS

概要

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Histological experiments have revealed that numerous taste buds distribute on the soft palate in mammals including man. There exist 220 taste buds on the soft palate with 17% of total number in the rat, and 100 taste buds with 13.8% of the total in the hamster. Those taste buds are innervated by the greater superficial petrosal nerve (GSP) branch of the VIIth nerve. Electrophysiological recordings from the GSP in the rat and hamster showed that taste stimulation with sweet substances on the soft palate produces robust responses on the GSP nerve. Behavioral experiment in the rat and hamster revealed that transection of the GSP resulted in significant decrease of the sensitivity for sucrose. Neural recordings from the rat GSP indicate that the GSP produced robust responses not only to sugars but also to various amino acids. In the rat chorda tympani, L-amino acids are more stimulatory than the D-forms, while the GSP responds better to D-amino acids compared to enantiomers. Histological experiments in the hams-ter and rat revealed that postnatal development and maturation of taste buds on the soft palate preceded those on the other loci in the oral cavity including anterior and posterior part of the tongue. Also, it was reported that there exist more than 400 taste buds inhuman fetus. These importance of the gustatory system of the soft palate is discussed in this review.
鹿児島大学の論文
1994-03-25