BIOL 2021 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Dorzolamide, Caffeine, 7-Eleven
Document Summary
Fyi: the pain of drin kin g pop. Whether its caffeine free or one calorie or full strength, the one thing we love is the fizz. Take a big gulp or a tiny little sip. It tingles the tongue and burns the throat just a little bit. For most people it"s aversive or almost painful at first and then after a while they come to enjoy it. Earl carstens is a neuroscientis at uc davis. He loves the fizz, so he and some colleagues set out to find. It"s interesting you know what"s going on in the mouth. Most people used to think it was the bubbles popping against the tongue that caused the tingling sensation. Carbonated drinks have gas in them, carbon dioxide. And once it gets into the tongue we think that the c02 gas is actually converted into acid, carbonic acid. And the conversion is mediated byan enzyme called carbonic anhydrase.
