Nerve Impulse Sequences Correlated with the Four Primary Taste Qualities in Rat

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Abstract
Neural correlates of the taste qualities must be contained in transient impulse trains across many nerve fibers. Ten chemicals with primary tastes were used in 2 or 3 concentrations. Gustatory impulses were recorded from thin strands, consisting of 1 or at most 3 functional nerve fibers, dissected out of the chorda tympani nerve of 12 Wistar albino rats, and their numbers in every successive 50 ms were counted for a 500 ms period after gustatory stimulus onset. Nerve impulse sequence produced by substances of the salty quality were different from those elicited by chemicals of the other 3 qualities in 250-300 after stimulus onset. The same was true in the case of sour and sweet qualities provided that they became dissimilar to each other in 250 ms after stimulation. No difference was recognized between impulse trains of bitter and sour solutions and between those of bitter and sweet ones.

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