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Micturition Drive is Associated with Decreased Brain Response to Palatable Milkshake in the Human Anterior Insular Cortex

  • Published:
Chemosensory Perception

Abstract

Introduction

Most functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of taste deliver small quantities of liquids over roughly 45 min to repeatedly sample brain response to tastants. Within this time participants frequently report that their need to urinate increases.

Methods

Since both gustatory and interoceptive information are represented in the anterior insular cortex, we evaluated whether perceived need to urinate influenced insular responses to the receipt of a small bolus of milkshake in two datasets (n = 45).

Results

Change in pre- to post-scan ratings of desire to urinate was inversely related to anterior insular response to milkshake.

Conclusion

This finding demonstrates that micturition drive influences insular response to milkshake and supports previous reports of overlapping gustatory and visceral representation within human anterior insular cortex.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by funding from the National Institutes of Health grant R01 DK085579.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Xiao Gao

  2. The John B. Pierce Laboratory, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA

    Xiao Gao, Xue Sun, Maria G. Veldhuizen, Yuko Nakamura, Nils B. Kroemer & Dana Small

  3. Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA

    Xiao Gao, Maria G. Veldhuizen, Nils B. Kroemer & Dana Small

  4. Yale Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Xue Sun & Dana Small

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität Dresden, 01187, Dresden, Germany

    Nils B. Kroemer

  6. Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Dana Small

Authors
  1. Xiao Gao
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  2. Xue Sun
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  3. Maria G. Veldhuizen
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  4. Yuko Nakamura
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  5. Nils B. Kroemer
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  6. Dana Small
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xiao Gao or Dana Small.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health grant to Dana Small (#R01 DK085579).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Informed consent to participate in our study was approved by Yale University School of Medicine Human Investigation Committee.

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Gao, X., Sun, X., Veldhuizen, M.G. et al. Micturition Drive is Associated with Decreased Brain Response to Palatable Milkshake in the Human Anterior Insular Cortex. Chem. Percept. 9, 174–181 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-016-9215-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12078-016-9215-1

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