How is salt taste intensity encoded within the human brain? The responses of BOLD fMRI using food models

Functional MRI (fMRI) allows understanding the mechanisms by which sensations induced by food cues are perceived and processed within the brain, under the influence of various external (e.g. visual stimuli) and internal factors (e.g. body state). In particular, it allows analyzing at neurophysiological level how food formulations influence their sensory qualities and the pleasure experienced. Here, we used fMRI to infer several neural correlates of the perceived salty intensity produced by rewarding food models. Subjects received different savory solutions on their tongue using an MR-compatible gustatometer. The activations were mapped from smoothed high-resolution data, an imaging protocol…