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Electrogustometric Threshold (electrogustometric + threshold)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Taste deficits after middle ear surgery for otosclerosis: taste somatosensory interactions

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 5 2008
Marie-Violaine Berteretche
The aim of this study was to evaluate the postoperative consequences of chorda tympani reclining during middle ear surgery for otosclerosis. Electrogustometric taste thresholds were measured at 11 loci on the tongue and the soft palate in 14 patients before surgery, and 8 d, 1 month and (in some cases) 6 months after surgery. A significant increase in thresholds was observed on the ipsilateral side of the tongue after surgery. The extent of the deficit and the recovery time course depended on tongue locus. The tip of the tongue displayed a limited deficit, suggesting bilateral chorda tympani innervation. The edge of the tongue was less impaired than the dorsal or the lateral tip loci; it may be dually innervated by both chorda tympani and glossopharyngeal nerves in humans, as already shown in rats. Likewise for the fungiform papillae located just anterior to the circumvallate papillae. Somatosensory early complaints suggest a derepression of chorda tympani on lingual nerve signals. In a second stage, relief of complaints before electrogustometric threshold recovery suggested trigeminal compensation of the chorda tympani deficit. Relief of complaints seems to involve central integrative processes, whereas the evolution of electrogustometric threshold represents the actual recovery time course of chorda tympani peripheral sensitivity. [source]

Depressive symptoms and olfactory function in older adults

PSYCHIATRY AND CLINICAL NEUROSCIENCES, Issue 4 2008
Anna Scinska
Aims:, Neuroimaging studies suggest a significant overlap between brain regions involved in the regulation of olfaction and mood. The aim of the present study was to search for correlations between depressive symptomatology measured by the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and olfactory function assessed with Sniffin' Sticks in non-demented older adults (aged 53,79 years). Methods:, Taste detection thresholds were also measured by means of electrogustometry on the anterior tongue. Results:, No correlation was found between the GDS scores (range: 0,12) and olfactory thresholds or olfactory identification scores. Similarly, there was no relationship between depressive symptoms and electrogustometric thresholds. Subjects (n = 25) scoring ,5 on the GDS were classified as ,depressed' and all other individuals (n = 60) were classified as ,non-depressed'. The two groups did not differ in terms of the olfactory measures and electrogustometric threshold. Conclusion:, Depressive symptoms are not associated with any major olfactory deficit in non-clinical older adults. [source]

Taste deficits related to dental deafferentation: an electrogustometric study in humans

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF ORAL SCIENCES, Issue 6 2006
Yves Boucher
Dental treatments, the prevalence of which increases with age, can cause orofacial somatosensory deficits. In order to examine whether they may also affect taste sensitivity, electrogustometric thresholds were measured at 9 loci on the tongue surface in 391 healthy non-smoking, non-medicated subjects. Results showed that the greater the number of deafferented teeth, the higher the thresholds. Irrespective of age, subjects with more than 7 deafferented teeth exhibited significantly higher thresholds than subjects with fewer than 7 deafferented teeth. Conversely, across age groups, no statistical difference was observed among subjects with no, or few, deafferented teeth. Hence, a taste deficit, which was not correlated to aging, was observed. An association was noticed between the location of taste deficits and the location of deafferented teeth. Higher thresholds at anterior sites, with no possible traumatic injury relationship, suggested that neurophysiological convergence between dental somatosensory and taste pathways , possibly in the nucleus tractus solitarius , could be responsible for these relative decreases of taste sensitivity when dental afferences were lacking. Among trigeminal contributions, lingual nerve and inferior alveolar nerve may synergize taste. [source]