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Human Trigeminal Sensory Responses to Vapor-Phase Stimuli

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Chemosensory Perception

Abstract

Introduction

This review addresses human sensory and perceptual responses to vapor-phase stimulation of oral cavity, nasal cavities, and cornea/conjunctiva regions innervated by one or more sensory branches of the trigeminal nerve.

Methods

Attribution of responses to trigeminal input differs between regions. Specifying nasal cavities responses as trigeminal input is facilitated using comparisons of normosmics and anosmics to rule out cranial nerve I input. Cornea/conjunctiva sensory innervation is only from trigeminal branches. The oral cavity, receiving sensory innervation from several cranial nerves, could be more complex.

Results

Human responses to vapor-phase chemical stimulation differed depending upon which of the above locations was stimulated. Most vapor-phase chemicals were ineffective in the oral cavity. Anosmics’ nasal cavity responses occurred to many vapor-phase chemical stimuli and permitted some descriptions, while unilateral trigeminal neurectomy in normosmics substantially reduced judged nasal cavity vapor-phase odor intensity on the neurectomized side. Cornea/conjunctiva vapor-phase responses also occurred to many stimuli, with sensitivity comparable to the anosmic nasal cavity. Descriptions for cornea/conjunctiva stimulation were not always irritation, but qualitative perceptual data for low concentration are lacking. Cornea/conjunctiva thermal, mechanical, and CO2 stimulations were able to be distinguished and identified.

Conclusions

Nasal cavity trigeminal sensory responses to vapor-phase chemical stimulation differed from oral cavity responses but resembled corneal responses. Nasal cavity and possibly cornea/conjunctiva trigeminal responses to vapor-phase stimulation may make important contributions to flavor.

Implications

Available data question whether all trigeminal-based sensory/perceptual responses to vapor-phase stimuli should be considered as only components of a unitary “common chemical sense” perception.

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Acknowledgments

I thank Thomas A. Cleland, Robert A. Raguso, and the anonymous reviewers for comments and recommendations on previous versions of this manuscript.

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Conflict of Interest

Bruce P. Halpern declares that he has no conflict of interest.

All procedures followed in research done by Bruce P. Halpern or his laboratory were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008 (5). Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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  1. Departments of Psychology and Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, 241 Uris Hall, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Bruce P. Halpern

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Halpern, B.P. Human Trigeminal Sensory Responses to Vapor-Phase Stimuli. Chem. Percept. 7, 126–139 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-014-9174-3

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