Neuroanatomical correlates of perceiving the intensity and pleasantness of intense saltiness in healthy subjects

Abstract

Reducing excessive dietary salt is beneficial to human health. Various taste-related brain regions are activated upon taste reception. However, it is unknown if their structural volumes would also influence taste perception. This study aimed to examine if grey matter volume would correlate with intensity or pleasantness scores given by participants after tasting an intense salty taste solution. We recruited 34 healthy human adults. They tasted 2 ml of 0.5 M sodium chloride solution and underwent magnetic resonance imaging to record their brain structures. By voxelbased morphometry, the amygdala, thalamus, insula and orbitofrontal cortex were structurally correlated to tasting.