If for no other reason than the fact that eating and drinking gives us pleasure, it is of interest to understand the physiology of gustation. In this issue, Lyall et al. (2002a) have uncovered the key cellular mechanisms that occur in taste receptor cells (TRCs) when certain mixtures of chemicals (tastants) are applied to the anterior tongue. In much the same way as music produced by a quartet differs from that produced by each instrument, compared with the sensations produced by individual tastants, in mixtures they can produce an entirely different taste sensation, increase the intensity of one of the tastants, or, as shown in the work of Lyall et al. (2002a), suppress the response to one of the tastants.
One question frequently asked in gustatory circles is where the interaction between the different tastants first takes place. Is it at the periphery, in...
