PSYC 2306 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Lateral Hypothalamus, Blood Sugar, Leptin
15 Mar 2017
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Taste sensation: primary taste sensations: sweet (connected to glucose), salty (connected to nacl), sour (connected to acid), bitter (connected to basic alkaloid), umami (connected to protein, wired to emotions: finding mates, finding food, avoiding poisons. When tasting, the brain searches memory for past experience with that flavor and evaluates the desirability. Cilantro aldehydes taste very unpleasant to some people because it doesn"t fit a familiar food experience in their brain. Taste physiology: papillae (taste buds) contain chemoreceptors involved in breaking down chemicals and conveying sensory info to the brain. Sweet is safe, sour is aversive: pain and hotness perception is based on scoville units. Green pepper is 0 and tabasco is 4,500. Humans are called fire eaters because we"re the only mammals that eat chili peppers. Benein masochism is the thrill seeking of eating spicy foods that has minimal danger: all mouths don"t taste the same. Supertasters experience sensation of biter very strongly and avoid broccoli, grapefruit, cabbage, coffee, etc.
