Shifting gustatory thresholds and food cravings during pregnancy as expanding uterine-induced steady potential shifts within the insula: An hypothesis

A logical extrapolation from the principle that structure dictates function is that transient or anomalous experiences are consequences of simultaneou s stimulations of proximal brain regions not typically co-activated. In thi s paper the occasional shifts in gustatory threshold during the menstrual c ycle, the craving for unusual tastes experienced by some during pregnancies , and, the reports by postmenopausal women of the "burning mouth syndrome" are hypothesized to be artifacts of the proximity of gustatory and uterine representations within the female insula. Transient (menstrual) or tonic (p regnancy) stimulation within the uterus might shift the locus of neuronal a ctivity within the insula to include adjacent gustatory neurons and consequ ently alter taste experiences. Specific tests of this hypothesis are-sugges ted.