The application of d.c. electrical stimulation in evoking and recording gustatory brain potentials

Evidence exists which supports the hypothesis that electrical stimulation o f appropriate parameters can fulfil the fundamental requirements for an eff ective evoked potential taste stimulus. Nevertheless, it had previously bee n considered that electrical taste stimulation is inadequate for evoking gu statory brain potentials. Consequently, the majority of the earlier attempt s to record gustatory evoked potentials (GEPs) reported in the literature h ave employed chemical stimulus techniques. The design of an electrical tast e stimulator and its interface to an evoked potential recording unit is des cribed. The first human brain potentials recorded with this system are pres ented, among which are those attributable to taste pathway activation. Foll owing future work to unequivocally confirm that taste evoked brain potentia ls are achievable with this system, it has potential to become a clinically valuable tool.