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PSYCH 367 > Chemical Senses > Flashcards

Chemical Senses Flashcards

(69 cards)

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1
Q

What is flavour?

A

A combination of smell and taste
Can include texture and other sensory aspects

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2
Q

What is difficult to identify without olfaction?

A

Foods

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3
Q

How did our gustation adapt?

A

To test whether food was edible, spoiled, or poisonous

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4
Q

What do salty foods maintain?

A

Electrolyte balance

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5
Q

What do sour foods do?

A

Detect vitamins and acids that cold burn tissue

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6
Q

What does sweet food ensure?

A

Energy reserves and fuel for neurons

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7
Q

What is the purpose of bitter tastes?

A

To avoid toxins/poisons

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8
Q

What are the qualities of salty stimuli?

A

in-/organic salts
Cation is the most important

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9
Q

What are the qualities of sour stimuli?

A

in/organic acids that release H+ ion in solution

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10
Q

What are the qualities of sweet stimuli?

A

Complex organic molecules: sugar, aspartame

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11
Q

What are the qualities of bitter stimuli?

A

Varied
Alkaloids
Some nitrogen-containing molecules

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12
Q

What are the qualities of umami stimuli?

A

Savory
Salts of glutamic acid

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13
Q

Where are salts of glutamic acid found?

A

Protein-rich foods
Was isolated from seaweed

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14
Q

What is MSG?

A

Glutamic acid + Na+
There are G protein-coupled receptors for MSG

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15
Q

What are the bumps on the tongue called?

A

Papillae

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16
Q

Where are taste buds found?

A

The fungiform = on tip and sides
Foliate = folds along sides of tongue
Circumvallate = flat mounds surrounded by a trench on the back of the tongue
Soft palate

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17
Q

What projects out of the taste pore?

A

Microvilli.

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18
Q

How does the transduction of taste work?

A

Sodium penetrates membrane of the receptor = depolarization
Sour substances contain H+ which blocks ion channels
Other substances form bonds with molecules in the membrane causing chemical changes within the cell

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19
Q

What is label-line sensory coding?

A

Different taste stimuli activate specific fibers
The firing rate represents the intensity
Activity in a few fibre types is all that is needed to code stimuli

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20
Q

What is the problem with label-line sensory coding?

A

Many substances elicit more than one taste

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21
Q

What is cross-fibre patterning?

A

There are no specialized receptors for each taste
Taste quality signaled by the pattern of activity in many fibers
Each fiber responds to a variety of substances, but is tuned to respond best to one type of taste

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22
Q

What nerve is made up from nerve fibers from the front and sides of the tongue?

A

The chorda tympani nerve

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23
Q

What nerve is made up from fibers from the back of the tongue?

A

The glossopharyngeal nerve

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24
Q

What nerve is made up from fibers from the mouth and throat?

A

The vagus nerve

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25
What nerve is made up of fibers from the soft palate?
The superficial petrosal nerve
26
Where do all of the nerves connect to?
The nucleus of the solitary tract in the medulla
27
What are the pathways in the medulla?
Thalamus => gustatory cortexes in the frontal lobe Frontal operculum cortex and anterial insula (conscious taste perception) -> orbitofrontal cortex (emotion and reward)
28
What role does the hypothalamus and the amygdala play in taste?
Aversions, cravings, affect component of taste
29
What factors affect the taste threshold?
Location = tastes are NOT localized on the tongue Temperature of substances = greatest sensitivity around 22-40°C Individual differences (like PTC gene)
30
What is adaptation-produced potentiation?
Adaptation to one taste increases sensitivity to another
31
What is cross-adapatation?
Adaptation to one compound reduces sensitivity to another compound Occurs for salty and sour (common mechanisms?) Not for sweet and bitter (multiple coding mechanisms?)
32
What is chemesthesis?
Sensations arising when chemical compounds in foods activate receptor mechanisms for pain, touch or thermal perception
33
What are some characteristics of capsaicin?
Found in white membrane inside of chili peppers Soluble in alcohol and vegetable oil Measured in scoville heat units
34
How does capsaicin work?
Partly comprised of a vanillin-shaped molecule so will bring to TRPV1 (vanilloid receptor 1) which is a polymodal nociceptor of some C-fibers which is why spice can be painfully hot Causes an influx of Ca2+ and Na+ into cells, triggers heat signal and inflammation
35
What is menthol?
Alcohol extracted from peppermint, potent counterirritant Produces cool sensation, acts on thermoreceptors
36
How does menthol work?
Acts of TRPM8 protein which is a cold receptor Menthol inhibits efflux of Ca2+ from cold receptor which causes increased firing
37
What are odourants?
Molecules of volatile substances
38
How do perfumers categorize smells?
Top notes, middle notes, base nots
39
What were Artistotle's 4 basic categories of odourants?
Pungent, succulent, acid, astringent
40
What is the odour prism?
Any odour is a combination of qualities on the prism We need more than 6 categories though
41
What is a stereochemical theory?
The classification of odours based on the shape of molecules Certain shaped molecules fit into matching receptor sites
42
What are the pros for stereochemical theory?
Evidence for categories from different kinds of anosmia = inability to perceive a certain odour
43
2hat are the cons of stereochemical theory
Contrary evidence Very similar molecules can have different odours and vice versa
44
What is in the roof of the nasal cavity?
The olfactory mucosa which contains mucous and olfactory epithelium
45
What can olfactory stimuli be picked up by?
Olfactory binding proteins in the mucous layer
46
What do molecules bind to in olfaction?
Olfactory receptors or cilia of olfactory receptors
47
What are the neural pathways in olfaction?
Olfactory nerve goes to olfactory bulb One pathway goes to primary olfactory (piriform) cortex in temporal lobe and then to the secondary (orbitofrontal) olfactory cortex Another goes to the limbic system
48
Where does olfaction NOT travel through?
The thalamus
49
What are glomeruli?
Clusters formed from ORN axons/dendrites of the olfactory bulb neurons
50
What factors affect the threshold for olfaction?
Age Smoking Menstrual cycle Individual differences can be as great as 20x
51
What are the differences between olfaction in humans and in dogs?
Dogs can detect substances in concentrations 300-10000x lower than humans BUT human olfactory receptors are triggered by one molecule Dogs = 1 billion ORNs + 100-150 cilia Humans = 10 million ORNs + 6-8 cilia
52
What is the effect of COVID on olfaction?
The virus attacks sustentacular cells that support ORNs, causing shedding of the cells of the olfactory epithelium
53
What is aromachology?
The study of the influence of smells on behaviour, mood and emotion
54
How does linalool affect stress response in rats?
Caused white blood cell levels to return to normal and changed expression in 115 genes Odorants can reverse the effects of stress on the immune system
55
How does inhaling peppermint affect athletes?
Increases performance on running speed, grip strength, number of push ups Not basketball free throws though
56
How does cinnamon gum affect athletes?
Increases performance on attention-based, memory, and visual-motor tasks
57
What is the issue with these specific athletic performance studies?
No control group
58
How does inhaling neutral sweet smells when hungry affect weight loss?
Causes a mean weight loss of 30 lbs in obese patients
59
What is the Proust effect?
Certain odourants trigger associated autobiographical memories
60
What did Schab find about memory and smell?
Participants who were presented a smell while being presented words could recall them better later when the smell was presented again
61
What are pheromones?
Chemicals secreted by animals transmit information to others of the same species
62
What are releaser pheromones?
Trigger immediate behavioural response in another animal
63
What are primer pheromones?
Start long-lasting physiological effects in another animal
64
What is the Bruce effect?
Female mouse that has just mated will not become pregnant if it smells a strange male mouse
65
What are pheromones detected by?
The vomeronasal organ in the base of the nasal cavity
66
What is musk?
Secreted from the abdominal gland of a male musk deer
67
What is musk similar to?
Human testosterone
68
What is alpha androstenol?
Secreted in human sweat, mostly by women A sex attractant for pigs
69
What might sexual arousal due to smells be due to?
Conditioned response to sexual partner/favourite food Nostalgic recall Relaxation of odour Neurophysiological response

PSYCH 367 (27 decks)

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