Presentation Details
| Don Tucker Finalist: The role of stimulus temperature on salt taste perception in mice. Mariela E.Marques, Roberto Vincis. Department of Biological Sciences and Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA |
Abstract
Stimulus temperature influences taste perception and consumption patterns, yet its effects remain poorly understood. This is critical for table salt (NaCl) as temperature-driven consumption changes can increase hypertension risk. We examined how stimulus temperature affects motivational and sensory-discriminative properties of NaCl and non-sodium salt (KCl). Water-deprived mice strongly preferred cool (14˚C) over warm (36˚C) stimuli in brief-access tests regardless of salt identity, concentration, or water alone. Progressive ratio testing confirmed cool stimuli possess greater appetitive efficacy independent of salt content, indicating brief-access procedures poorly assess stimulus temperature effects under water deprivation conditions. In contrast, operant tasks revealed robust stimulus temperature effects on sensory-discriminative function. In detection tasks where mice identified each salt from water, sensitivity to both salts was enhanced at 36˚C versus 14˚C, with lower detection thresholds at warm stimulus temperatures. Critically, when mice distinguished NaCl from KCl with intensity controlled by anchoring concentrations at detection thresholds, discrimination performance was significantly impaired at 36˚C versus 14˚C, indicating the two salts become perceptually more similar at warmer stimulus temperatures. Stimulus temperature profoundly modulates sensory-discriminative properties: warm stimuli enhance detection sensitivity while reducing qualitative discriminability between sodium and non-sodium salts. This temperature-induced perceptual similarity suggests KCl may serve as a more effective NaCl substitute in warm foods, with important implications for sodium reduction strategies.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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