Taste and olfactory intensity perception changes following left insular stroke.
The authors tested suprathreshold intensity perception of gustatory and olfactory stimuli in a 70-year-old right-handed man following a left posterior insular stroke and compared his results with those of age-matched controls. Both modalities revealed significant differences between left (ipsilateral to lesion) and right (contralateral) ratings of intensity. In both gustation and olfaction, these differences were driven primarily by trends toward increased contralateral sensitivity relative to controls. Intensity changes were most pronounced for unpleasant odors and for tastes perceived strongly as either pleasant (sweet) or unpleasant (salty, bitter). These results show that a left posterior insula lesion may affect taste and olfactory perception similarly by increasing sensitivity contralateral to the lesion. One possible mechanism is release from inhibition at the cortical level.
Mak
Y Erica
YE
The John B. Pierce Laboratory, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06519, USA.
Simmons
Katharine B
KB
Gitelman
Darren R
DR
Small
Dana M
DM
D000368:Aged; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D012903:Smell / Q000502:physiology*; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods