An automated regional taste-testing system

A fully programmable and portable automated regional taste-testing system i s described. This system utilizes a glass stimulator held to the surface of the tongue by a mild vacuum. Temporally and spatially discrete trains of s timuli, delivered from a bank of glass reservoirs through microprocessor-co ntrolled Teflon solenoid valves and both glass and Tygon tubing, can be del ivered to the lingual surface at millisecond durations. Rinses between stim uli are similarly programmed. The stimulus delivery is monitored at the sur face of the tongue, using a capacitance sensor to alert the subject of stim ulus delivery. An example of the application of this system is shown, in wh ich we demonstrate that the detection threshold for NaCl is inversely relat ed to stimulus duration by a power function.