TITLE:
A Neurobiological Examination of Environmental, Subjective, Peripheral and Central Taste Sensation Processing Variances Associated with Taste Alterations: A Case Study Method
AUTHORS:
Tayren N. Ben-Abraham
KEYWORDS:
Gustatory Neurobiology, Taste Disorder, Supertaster Phenomenon, TAS2R38 Gene
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Neuroscience,
Vol.11 No.3,
August
19,
2021
ABSTRACT: This study examines a common phenomenon that is greatly ignored by the
clinical community for numerous reasons. Many people for a multitude of reasons
experience taste alterations. The supertaster phenomenon is an alteration of
taste that requires more investigation. In this study, a proband was examined
for subjective reports of a taste alteration to determine its nature through a
medical history examination and interview as well as any recollections of the
taste disorder in her life. Through this examination, it was found that medical
history examination and interview of the proband that many members of her
nuclear family showed traits of the same taste disorder or in the case of one
family member being a suspect for the taste alteration and one member not
showing any signs because of genetic diversity as a half-sibling. Taste
disorders are heritable, have multiple health and mental health consequences,
influence life choices including mate choice, avoidance behaviors, social
choices, alcohol use/abuse, smoking, food choices, and more. More awareness is
needed in the research and clinical community into taste alterations as well as
calls for future research from neuroscience, biomedical science, life science,
and allied science community to investigate taste alterations.