title: Gustation assessment using the NIH Toolbox.
abstract: The NIH Toolbox for Assessment of Neurological and Behavioral Function (NIH Toolbox) is a set of brief measures for the assessment of cognitive function, emotional health, motor function, and sensory function for use in clinical trials and in epidemiologic and longitudinal studies. Gustatory perception is assessed as 1 of 6 areas of sensory function. A team of 11 scientists with expertise in taste perception selected 2 gustatory measures, 1 of which can be used in young pediatric populations. The measure selected for young pediatric populations assesses sucrose (sweet) taste preference and can also be used across the age span of 5 to 85 years. For adult populations, the selected measure is a regional test, which assesses variability in perceived intensity of quinine hydrochloride (bitter) when applied to the tongue tip as well as perceived with the whole mouth. The team also recommends the regional test for assessing other tastants, such as sodium chloride (salty). Validation studies have demonstrated that the measures modified for the NIH Toolbox correlate with more traditional assessments, and can identify known population differences in gustation.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, School of Dentistry, Seattle, WA, USA. scoldwel@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Coldwell
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mennella
authors.forename: Valerie B
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: Marcia L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pelchat
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Griffith
authors.forename: Gregory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smutzer
authors.forename: Beverly J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Cowart
authors.forename: Paul A S
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Breslin
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bartoshuk
authors.forename: Lloyd
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hastings
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Victorson
authors.forename: Howard J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D011803:Quinine / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D013395:Sucrose / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D055697:Taste Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013652:Taste Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013395:Sucrose; D011803:Quinine