Background: Individuals who adhere to reduced-sodium diets come to prefer less salt over time, but it is unclear whether sweet taste perception is mod

Seventy-four pairs of monozygotic (identical) twins and 35 pairs of dizygotic (fraternal) twins provided recognition thresholds (modified Harris–Kalmus test) for the sourness of citric acid and the saltiness of sodium chloride during the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, OH. Variance components (ACE) models were applied to the data: total variation = additive genetic (A) + common environment (C) + nonshared environment (E). The best-fit model of variation in recognition thresholds for sourness included an additive genetic factor, accounting for 53% of the variance, but no common environment component. This level of heritability, on par with that of sensitivity to the bitter compounds 6-n-propylthiouracil and phenylthiocarbamide, strongly suggests that genetic factors play a larger role than shared environment in determining individual differences in recognition thresholds for sourness. In contrast, the best-fit model for saltiness recognition included a common environment component, accounting for 22% of the variance in thresholds, but no additive component. This result suggests that environment plays a larger role than genetics in determining individual differences in recognition thresholds for saltiness.

Taste sensitivity is assessed with various techniques, including absolute detection and quality recognition. For any stimulus, one might expect individual differences in sensitivity to be reflected in all measures, but they are often surprisingly independent. Here, we focus on sensitivity to sour and salty taste, in part because processing of these qualities is poorly understood relative to other tastes. In Study 1, we measured retest reliability for detection (modified, forced-choice staircase method) and recognition (modified Harris-Kalmus procedure) for both citric acid (CA) and sodium chloride (NaCl). Despite good retest reliability, individual differences in detection and recognition were weakly correlated, suggesting that detection and recognition of sour and salty stimuli may reflect different physiological processes. In Study 2, a subset of subjects returned to contribute full detection (psychometric) functions for CA and NaCl. Thresholds estimated from full detection functions correlated with both staircase and recognition thresholds, suggesting that both tasks may reflect absolute sensitivity to some extent. However, the ranges of individual differences were systematically compressed for staircase thresholds relative to those from full detection functions. Thus, individual differences in sensitivity appear to interact with different test methodologies in lawful ways. More work will be required to understand how different taste phenotypes relate to one another.

Although many people naively assume that the bite of carbonation is due to tactile stimulation of the oral cavity by bubbles, it has become increasingly clear that carbonation bite comes mainly from formation of carbonic acid in the oral mucosa. In Experiment 1, we asked whether bubbles were in fact required to perceive carbonation bite. Subjects rated oral pungency from several concentrations of carbonated water both at normal atmospheric pressure (at which bubbles could form) and at 2.0 atmospheres pressure (at which bubbles did not form). Ratings of carbonation bite under the two pressure conditions were essentially identical, indicating that bubbles are not required for pungency. In Experiment 2, we created controlled streams of air bubbles around the tongue in mildly pungent CO₂ solutions to determine how tactile stimulation from bubbles affects carbonation bite. Since innocuous sensations like light touch and cooling often suppress pain, we predicted that bubbles might reduce rated bite. Contrary to prediction, air bubbles flowing around the tongue significantly enhanced rated bite, without inducing perceived bite in blank (un-carbonated) solutions. Accordingly, though bubbles are clearly not required for carbonation bite, they may well modulate perceived bite. More generally, the results show that innocuous tactile stimulation can enhance chemogenic pain. Possible physiological mechanisms are discussed.