title: Palatability of tastes is associated with facial circulatory responses.
abstract: To examine whether various types of taste stimuli in the oral cavity elicit unique changes in facial skin blood flow (SkBF) according to the palatability perceived by an individual, the facial SkBF was observed by laser speckle flowgraphy in 15 healthy subjects (11 males and 4 females) before and during the ingestion of bitter tea, chilli sauce, coffee, orange juice, soup, and a water control. The heart rate, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and SkBF in the index finger were recorded continuously. Subjects reported their subjective palatability and taste intensity scores after each stimulus. The vascular conductance indexes (CIs) in the face and finger were calculated as ratios of SkBF to MAP. CI in the eyelid increased significantly in response to chilli sauce, orange juice, and soup, whereas CIs in the forehead, nose, and cheek decreased in response to bitter tea. There was a significant correlation between the palatability scores and CI values in the eyelid when changes induced by chilli sauce were excluded. These results suggest that the facial circulatory response reflects the degree of palatability of a foodstuff.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Ookayama 2-12-1-W9-1, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8552, Japan. naohayashi@hum.titech.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kashima
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D002212:Capsicum / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D032084:Citrus sinensis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D005145:Face / Q000098:blood supply; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry; D008297:Male; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D013662:Tea
keywords: autonomic nervous system; emotion; laser speckle flowgraphy; taste