Introduction

Two recent brain morphological studies reported inconsistent results on the neuroanatomical correlates of taste intensity rating among healthy populations. The current study re-visited this issue with a large and more homogeneous sample size. It was hypothesized that the orbitofrontal cortex, the sole region commonly reported by the two studies together with olfactory studies, had its gray matter volume (GMV) correlated to taste intensity rating.

Methods

The open data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP, S1200 release dataset) was used. Data from 213 subjects were analyzed. They were aged 22–25, completed 3-Tesla structural brain scan, and were asked to taste a bitter solution (0.001 M quinine) and rate the perceived intensity with a general Labelled Magnitude Scale. The age-adjusted taste intensity rating was used for the current analysis. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) using CAT12 toolbox implemented in SPM12 was conducted with the default procedures and settings. Whole brain analysis was performed at a threshold of cluster p < 0.05, familywise error corrected (FWE), with a primary cluster-forming threshold of uncorrected voxel p < 0.001.

Results

Voxel-wise GMV was significantly correlated to taste intensity rating in the right angular gyrus. OFC was insignificant even with a more liberal threshold of uncorrected voxel p < 0.001.

Conclusions

The current results were again different from previously published reports. This might be due to heterogeneous population, data processing, and analytical methods.

Implications

At the current stage, the morphometric finding from brain imaging is not yet a simple and reliable biomarker for assessing taste intensity perception.

中文翻译：

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灰质量与苦味感知强度的关联：基于体素的形态计量学研究

介绍

最近的两项大脑形态学研究报告了健康人群中味觉强度等级的神经解剖学相关性不一致的结果。当前的研究以更大且更均匀的样本量重新审视了这个问题。假设这两个研究和嗅觉研究共同报告的眼眶额叶皮层是唯一的区域，其灰质体积（GMV）与味觉强度等级相关。

方法

使用了来自人类Connectome项目的开放数据（HCP，S1200版本数据集）。分析了来自213名受试者的数据。他们年龄在22-25岁之间，完成了3-Tesla结构的脑部扫描，并被要求品尝苦味溶液（0.001 M奎宁），并使用通用标记的量表对感知到的强度进行评分。年龄调整后的味觉强度等级用于当前分析。使用SPM12中实现的CAT12工具箱的基于体素的形态测量（VBM）是采用默认过程和设置进行的。全脑分析是在簇p <0.05的阈值下进行的，经家庭误差校正（FWE），未形成体素的主要簇形成阈值p <0.001。

结果

体素方向的GMV与直角回的味觉强度等级显着相关。即使未校正体素的阈值更为宽松，OFC仍微不足道p <0.001。

结论

当前的结果再次不同于先前发布的报告。这可能是由于异构人口，数据处理和分析方法所致。

含义

在目前阶段，脑成像的形态计量学发现还不是评估味觉强度感知的简单可靠的生物标记。