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| Name |
Bartoshuk, Linda M. |
| Location
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University of Florida |
| Primary Field
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Psychological and Cognitive Sciences |
| Secondary Field
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Systems Neuroscience |
 Election Citation
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Bartoshuk is a leading psychologist who studies the genetic variation in taste perception, oral pain, and taste disorders. She has demonstrated that inhibitory processes underlie normal and abnormal tastes, and that individual human taste differences are based on an incomplete dominant gene. She has also shown that those who experience the most intense taste have an especially large number of fungiform papaillae on their tongue. |
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Research Interests
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Bartoshuk has collaborated with colleagues in horticulture to increase the palatability of fruits and vegetables. That work serendipitously led to a new way to enhance sweet and salty taste sensations as well as reduce bitter taste sensations. This may lead to a new way to restore taste function in patients with taste nerve damage. This work will also contribute to the reduction of sugar and artificial sweetener intake as well as the reduction of sodium intake. The ability to reduce unwanted bitter sensations will contribute to the intake of healthy, bitter tasting foods (e.g., green leafy vegetables) as well as intake of medications in infants and children. She has studied the dietary consequences of taste damage induced by viruses. This taste damage leads to intensification of sensory signals from fats with enhancement of the palatability of high fat foods and weight gain. This work may potentially apply to the covid-19 virus-induced taste loss. |
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