1. Enhancement of Gustatory Neural Responses by Parasympathetic Nerve in the Frog
- Author
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Toshihide Sato and Yukio Okada
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Taste ,Action Potentials ,Stimulation ,Sodium Chloride ,Autonomic Nervous System ,03 medical and health sciences ,Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Parasympathetic nervous system ,0302 clinical medicine ,Parasympathetic Nervous System ,medicine ,Animals ,Acetylcholine receptor ,Rana catesbeiana ,Cell Biology ,General Medicine ,Electric Stimulation ,Autonomic nervous system ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Nicotinic agonist ,chemistry ,Glossopharyngeal nerve ,Hexamethonium ,Neuroscience ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery - Abstract
The autonomic nervous system affects the gustatory responses in animals. Frog glossopharyngeal nerve (GPN) contains the parasympathetic nerve. We checked the effects of electrical stimulation (ES) of the parasympathetic nerves on the gustatory neural responses. The gustatory neural impulses of the GPNs were recorded using bipolar AgCl wires under normal blood circulation and integrated with a time constant of 1 s. Electrical stimuli were applied to the proximal side of the GPN with a pair of AgCl wires. The parasympathetic nerves of the GPN were strongly stimulated for 10 s with 6 V at 30 Hz before taste stimulation. The integrated neural responses to 0.5 M NaCl, 2.5 mM CaCl2, water, and 1 M sucrose were enhanced to 130-140% of the controls. On the other hand, the responses for 1 mM Q-HCl and 0.3 mM acetic acid were not changed by the preceding applied ES. After hexamethonium (a blocker of nicotinic ACh receptor) was intravenously injected, ES of the parasympathetic nerve did not modulate the responses for all six taste stimuli. The mechanism for enhancement of the gustatory neural responses is discussed.
- Published
- 2017