PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Joost X. Maier
AU  - Matt Wachowiak
AU  - Donald B. Katz
TI  - Chemosensory Convergence on Primary Olfactory Cortex
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3540-12.2012
DP  - 2012 Nov 28
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 17037--17047
VI  - 32
IP  - 48
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/32/48/17037.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/32/48/17037.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2012 Nov 28; 32
AB  - Food perception and preference formation relies on the ability to combine information from both the taste and olfactory systems. Accordingly, psychophysical investigations in humans and behavioral work in animals has shown that the taste system plays an integral role in odor processing. However, the neural basis for the influence of taste (gustation) on odor (olfaction) remains essentially unknown. Here we tested the hypothesis that gustatory influence on olfactory processing occurs at the level of primary olfactory cortex. We recorded activity from single neurons in posterior olfactory (piriform) cortex (pPC) of awake rats while presenting basic taste solutions directly to the tongue. A significant portion of pPC neurons proved to respond selectively to taste stimuli. These taste responses were significantly reduced by blockade of the gustatory epithelium, were unaffected by blockade of the olfactory epithelium, and were independent of respiration behavior. In contrast, responses to olfactory stimuli, recorded from the same area, were reduced by nasal epithelial deciliation and phase-locked to the respiration cycle. These results identify pPC as a likely site for gustatory influences on olfactory processing, which play an important role in food perception and preference formation.