Ikuhiro Kida1, Yoshinobu Iguchi1, Yoko Hoshi1
1Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan
The neuronal mechanisms underlying taste discrimination and perception in cortical and subcortical regions remain unclear. We performed blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging at 7 T to clarify the neuronal network in the cortical and subcortical regions for taste discrimination. Sucrose and NaCl stimulation increased and decreased the BOLD signals, respectively, in the insular cortex and regions like the caudate-putamen and nucleus accumbens core. This suggests that the activated regions differed but overlapped for taste discrimination. The correlation between the signals in such regions may be related to positive and negative emotional and affective processes, including food preferences.