ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the anatomical and physiological evidence that supports the suppositions, with particular reference to a chemically oriented animal, the rat, and to one more reliant on the nonchemical senses, the macaque monkey. The approach taken to understand the neural mechanisms of taste is based on models developed for vision and hearing. The sense of taste is an intermediary between the traditional nonchemical sensory systems and visceral sensation. The role of taste as mediator between the external and internal chemical milieux is reflected in its anatomy. In the hindbrain, the special visceral afferent fibers of taste run in close apposition to both somatosensory and visceral afferents. Taste afferents are shown to overlap somesthetic fibers on their lateral boundary and to project to autonomic areas medially. Chemicals stimulating taste receptors are only candidates for ingestion.
