The relation between neural and perceptual intensity: a comparative study on the neural and psychophysical response to taste stimuli

Abstract

Recording the summated electrical response from the human chorda tympani in the middle ear provides data for a quantitative study of the relation between the neural activity and the strength of the stimulus applied to the tongue which can be compared with the relation between the subjective estimation and the stimulus strength. Full comparative data obtained from 2 patients showed a very high correlation between the functions describing the subjective and the neural response in relation to the strength of citric acid and sucrose solutions applied to the tongue. In a third patient the same high correlation was obtained for NaCl and citric acid. The good agreement between the individual neurophysiological experiments and the psychophysical group experiment favors the view that a fundamental congruity is found between neural activity and perceptual intensity.