This is added to foods to enhance their flavour. It probably works by activating NMDA receptors which are found in taste cells. This will depolarise the taste receptor cell and act as an excitatory influence. Then, far less of a particular taste will be required to cause the further depolarisation necessary to bring about transmitter release. Return to top Relay to the brain Taste receptor cells do not have an axon.
Information is relayed onto terminals of sensory fibres by transmitter.
This is responsible for the behavioural response, e.g. aversion, gastric secretion, feeding behaviour. Notes on smell A short tutorial on taste and smell Chemoreception , a vaste resource of everything to do with taste and smell, wierd and mainstream. Cambridge University Press. Handbook of olfaction and gustation. The Chemical Senses, pp 108-112.