BITTER TASTE IN SINGLE CHORDA TYMPANI TASTE FIBERS FROM CHIMPANZEE

We have found earlier that chimpanzee chorda tympani taste fibers fall into groups that conform with the human taste qualities. This study f ocuses on bitter taste and its relation to sweet taste. Eight fibers w ere classified as bitter fibers according to their responses to 31 sti muli. The stimuli included the bitter compounds quinine, denatonium be nzoate and caffeine. The results indicate a clear dichotomy between th e bitter and sweet fibers. Sweet fibers never responded to the bitter compounds. However, in addition to their responses to the above compou nds, some of the bitter fibers were stimulated by other compounds. Mos t prominent were responses to NaCl-amiloride mixture, KCl and xylitol. In most cases the cause could be assumed to be a bitter taste in the compound. These results suggest that the bitter and sweet tastes are c onveyed in specific and separate groups of nerve fibers in the chimpan zee. Because of the closeness between chimpanzee and human, this findi ng has implications on the question of taste coding in human and the c oncept of taste qualities.