New study maps regions for taste detection within brain

New research from the US has revealed insights into the way taste is registered and coded within the brain.

Scientists from Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Institutes of Health have used special dyes administered to the brains of mice to detect which neurons are activated by different tastes.

It was found that each of the different taste sensations – sweet, bitter, salty and savoury – are processed by distinct regions of the brain, none of which overlap.

According to researchers, this discovery is surprising, as taste offers no pre-existing arrangement before reaching the brain, while the receptors for all tastes are found randomly throughout the tongue.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Charles Zuker said the team now wishes to how examine "how taste combines with other sensory inputs like olfaction and texture, and the internal state … to choreograph flavour, taste memories and taste behaviours".

This comes after a University of Burgundy study last month revealed that different smells can lead the brain to perceive the taste of food to be saltier than it really is.