Premium
The Role of the Human Orbitofrontal Cortex in Taste and Flavor Processing
Author(s) -
SMALL DANA M.,
BENDER GENEVIEVE,
VELDHUIZEN MARIA G.,
RUDENGA KRISTIN,
NACHTIGAL DANIELLE,
FELSTED JENNIFER
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1401.002
Subject(s) - orbitofrontal cortex , taste , percept , sensory system , olfaction , neuroscience , psychology , flavor , perception , cognitive psychology , prefrontal cortex , biology , cognition , food science
: The human orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) plays an important role in representing taste, flavor, and food reward. The primary role of the OFC in taste is thought to be the encoding of affective value and the computation of perceived pleasantness. The OFC also encodes retronasal olfaction and oral somatosensation. During eating, distinct sensory inputs fuse into a unitary flavor percept, and there is evidence that this percept is encoded in the orbital cortex. Studies examining the effect of internal state on neural representation of food and drink further suggest that processing in the OFC is critical for representing the reward value of foods. Thus, it is likely that, in addition to serving as higher‐order gustatory cortex, the OFC integrates multiple sensory inputs and computes reward value to guide feeding behavior.