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Basic taste processing recruits bilateral anteroventral and middle dorsal insulae: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:Numerous task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have reported the locations of basic taste representations in the human brain, but they usually employed a limited number of subjects (<20) with different methodologies and stimuli. Moreover, the reported brain regions were sometimes inconsistent. Thus, we aimed at performing a meta-analysis of the published data to identify locations consistently activated across studies, and performed a connectivity analysis to reveal how these taste processing regions connect with other brain regions. MATERIALS AND METHODS:A meta-analysis was performed based on 34 experiments, with 238 total participants in 16 studies, to establish the activation likelihood estimation (ALE) of taste-mediated regional activation. Meta-analytic connectivity modeling (MACM) and data stored in BrainMap database were employed to reveal the functional connectivity of the regions identified by ALE with other brain regions, across all types of experiments that caused activation among healthy subjects. RESULTS:ALE identified nine activated clusters in bilateral anteroventral and middle dorsal insulae, bilateral thalamus and caudate, bilateral pre-/postcentral gyrus, and right hippocampus. The concurrence between studies was moderate, with at best 38% of experiments contributed to the significant clusters activated by taste stimulation. Sweet taste was the predominant contributing taste. MACM revealed that at least 50% of the nine clusters coactivated with the middle cingulate cortex, medial frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule, and putamen. CONCLUSION:Results suggested that fMRI studies have reported reproducible patterns of activations across studies. The basic taste stimulations resulted in activations in a mostly bilateral network. Moreover, they were connected with cognitive and emotional relevant brain regions.

SUBMITTER: Yeung AWK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5390838 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Basic taste processing recruits bilateral anteroventral and middle dorsal insulae: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

Yeung Andy Wai Kan AWK Goto Tazuko K TK Leung Wai Keung WK

Brain and behavior 20170310 4

<h4>Background and purpose</h4>Numerous task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have reported the locations of basic taste representations in the human brain, but they usually employed a limited number of subjects (<20) with different methodologies and stimuli. Moreover, the reported brain regions were sometimes inconsistent. Thus, we aimed at performing a meta-analysis of the published data to identify locations consistently activated across studies, and performed a conn ...[more]

PMID: 28413706

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The reward value of palatable foods is often cited as an important influence on eating behaviors, including intake of sugars. However, human neuroimaging studies have generated conflicting evidence on the basic neural representation of taste and reward responses to caloric sweeteners (sucrose and glucose), and most relevant studies have used small subject numbers. OBJECTIVE:We conducted a systematic review and a coordinate-based meta-analysis of studies reporting brain responses to oral sugar solutions. METHODS:A systematic search of MEDLINE, Scopus, and PsycINFO through October 2019 identified fMRI studies (in healthy human adults, including those with overweight or obesity) assessing differences in responses to purified sweet and nonsweet taste stimuli. Data were extracted with the primary objective of quantifying evidence for the activation of brain regions associated with caloric sweet taste sensation. We used activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis methods. We also performed multiple sensitivity analyses to assess the generality of effects. RESULTS:Of 455 unique articles, 15 met the criteria for inclusion. These contributed to 2 primary meta-analyses: 1) sucrose (13 experiments, 179 coordinates, n = 241) and 2) sucrose + glucose (16 experiments, 209 coordinates, n = 262). Consistent activation was apparent in primary taste areas: insula (69.2% of studies) and opercular cortex (76.9% of studies), precentral gyri (53.9% of studies), and globus pallidus and postcentral gyrus (30.8% of studies for each). Evidence of reward activity (caudate) was seen in the primary analyses (30.8% of studies) but not in sensitivity analysis. CONCLUSIONS:We confirm the importance of primary taste areas for gustatory processing in human adults. We also provide tentative evidence for reward-related caudate activity in relation to the sweet taste of caloric sugars. A number of factors affect the observation and interpretation of brain responses, including reward-related activity. Firm conclusions require confirmation with large data set studies.

Dataset Information

Basic taste processing recruits bilateral anteroventral and middle dorsal insulae: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

Publications

Basic taste processing recruits bilateral anteroventral and middle dorsal insulae: An activation likelihood estimation meta-analysis of fMRI studies.

Similar Datasets

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