Taste-responsive neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract receive gustatory information from both sides of the tongue in the hamster

摘要

Another feature of the gustatory system is the convergence between cranial nerves responsible for taste information processing. Sucrose preference tests in the rat have shown that bilateral CT section marginally attenuates the rats' responsiveness. Sectioning of the CT nerves combined with lesions of the nasoincisor ducts (NID), which are innervated by the greater superficial petrosal (GSP) branch of the Vllth nerve, had greater effect (44). This synergistic effect likely represents the central convergence of primary afferent fibers from the GSP and CT, since NST neurons are responsive to stimulation of both receptor subpopulations on the anterior tongue and those associated with the NID (48). In rats, some NST neurons responded to taste stimulation of receptor subpopulations innervated by both CT and glossopharyngeal (IXth) nerves (47). In hamsters, 64% of NST neurons are responsive to stimulation of receptor subpopulations located both in anterior tongue and posterior oral cavity (45).