Analysis of Similarity between Taste Quality and Glossopharyngeal Nerve Response in Toad

Abstract

The gustatory afferent impulses were recorded from the glossopharyngeal nerve after the application of chemical stimuli of four basic taste qualities to the toad tongue, and temporal patterns of the total number of impulses in a given time were obtained by a new summator, Nerve Impulse Count Summator. Statistical analysis of these temporal pattern of responses to chemical stimuli were made to assess whether one temporal pattern is similar to another or not. The results show that neither chemical specificity nor difference of taste substances given to the toad tongue affects the impulse pattern which appeared in the whole glossopharyngeal nerve.