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Biomedical subjects

B P Halpern

Publications and source records attributed to B P Halpern.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Speed and consistency of human decisions to swallow or spit sweet and sour solutions.

Measurements of the frequency and speed of spitting or swallowing citric acid, sodium saccharin, or mixture solutions, using the taste of one of them as the definition of what was to be spit, revealed that 'correct' spits occurred on > or = 70% of trials with equal reliability and latency among the liquids, indicating that recognition-based rejection decisions in adult humans are as rapid and consistent for an arbitrary sweet taste as for a sour or mixed taste.

Decision Making↗
PubMed1991

Time-quality tracking of monosodium glutamate, sodium saccharin, and a citric acid-saccharin mixture.

The temporal patterns of taste-quality descriptors evoked by 1000-ms duration stimulus liquids flowed through a closed delivery system over the anterodorsal tongue tip region were indicated using touch-typing on a computer keyboard. Single keys corresponded to the taste words of a 23 item code. A computer monitor displayed for subjects the keys pressed and when they were pressed, starting at stimulus delivery. For 2 mM sodium saccharin (NaSac), 75% of the responses were "sweet," 6.5% "sugar"; for NaSac in 10 mM citric acid (ArtLem), 43% "sour," 20% "citrus," and 11% "sugar"; for 214 mM monosodium glutamate (MSG), 28% "salty," 14% "sour," and 10% 1st "soapy," then "no taste," and finally "bitter." Distilled water received "no taste" on all trials. Response durations were 657 ms for ArtLem, 594 ms for NaSac, 577 ms for MSG. MSG yielded multiple quality responses on 25.5% of the trials; ArtLem, 9%; and NaSac, 1%. These results are compared with temporal patterns for taste intensity and with unrestricted verbal descriptions of the solutions.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Gustatory sensitivity of an anuran to cantharidin.

Glossopharyngeal nerve stimulation of the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana, revealed responsiveness to low levels of cantharidin (1.3 x 10(-6) M), providing a first demonstration of neural gustatory sensitivity of an animal to this defensive chemical from blister beetles (Meloidae).

Animals↗
PubMed1986

An analysis of the role of stimulus removal in taste adaptation by means of simulated drinking.

Human multiple sip drinking was simulated by repeated, alternate application of a NaCl solution and a second liquid to the anterior portion of the tongue. Judged intensity of the NaCl solution remained constant during alternation with artificial saliva, increased during alternation with water, and decreased during alternation with an identical NaCl solution or with no second liquid. Relative change in concentration on the tongue may determine constancy, facilitation, or adaptation during drinking.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1986

Constraints imposed on taste physiology by human taste reaction time data.

The speed with which an organism responds to stimulus events is reaction time (RT): the minimum time interval between stimulus arrival at a receptor organ, and an overt response by the organism. This time interval specifies maximum duration of all processes necessary for the RT sequence. Responses to any change in taste have RT less than 1 sec for suprathreshold concentrations. Therefore, constituent events at taste receptors, in the central nervous system (CNS), and at the response organ, must have sufficient durations less than 1 sec (Constraint 1). Taste stimulus durations of 50 msec, and therefore taste receptor events of approximately 50 msec, are sufficient for these responses (Constraint 2), as well as for taste quality identification responses (Constraint 3). Taste receptor latencies, neural conduction times, and RT response organ events are even briefer. Thus, 60% to 90% of human taste RT is CNS events. Taste receptor events remain crucial, but CNS processing is important, and apparently time limiting, in all human taste judgments.

Afferent Pathways↗
PubMed1977

Licking behavior: evidence of hypoglossal oscillator.

Action potentials and slow waves were recorded from the hypoglossal nucleus of rats during licking of water from a drinking tube. Periods of licking and of rhythmic neural activity were usually highly correlated, as were their frequencies. Neural activity sometimes continued after cessation of licking; at other times, it stopped during a short interruption of licking and resumed in rhythm with licking. These observations are consistent with an oscillatory model of the control of licking.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1972

Taste stimuli: time course of peripheral nerve response and theoretical models.

The responses of a taste nerve in rats to sodium chloride were integrated over successive 10-millisecond intervals and averaged. The time course of the mean responses consisted of a 30-millisecond latency, a rapid rise to a maximum, and a slower decline to a sustained level. The chemoreceptor theories of Beidler and Paton failed to predict the relation between phasic response and time or concentration.

Animals↗
PubMed1971

Taste stimuli: quality coding time.

Rats conditioned to avoid drinking 300 millimolar NaCl recognized and rejected this solution within 250 to 600 milliseconds of onset of stimulus, a period containing the phasic portion of the peripheral neural response. They generalized to 500 millimolar NaCl but not to 500 millimolar sucrose. Rejection was based on quality identification neurally encoded within this brief period.

Animals↗