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Food Science and Human Wellness 2022, 11(5): 1233-1239 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2022.04.019
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 02 June 2022

Investigating the influence of monosodium L-glutamate on brain responses via scalp-electroencephalogram (scalp-EEG)

Show Author's Information Ben Wua,  Xirui Zhoua,  Imre Blankb,  Yuan Liua( )
Department of Food Science & Technology, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Zhejiang Yiming Food Co., Ltd., Wenzhou 325400, China

Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

Keywords:
Brain, Electroencephalogram, Taste, Monosodium glutamate, Umami
Cite this article:
Wu B, Zhou X, Blank I, et al. Investigating the influence of monosodium L-glutamate on brain responses via scalp-electroencephalogram (scalp-EEG). Food Science and Human Wellness, 2022, 11(5): 1233-1239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2022.04.019
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Abstract Full text About this article

As the relevance between left and right brain neurons when transmitting electrical signals of umami taste is unknown, the aim of this work was to investigate responsive regions of the brain to the umami tastant monosodium glutamate (MSG) by using scalp-electroencephalogram (EEG) to identify the most responsive brain regions to MSG. Three concentrations of MSG (0.05, 0.12, 0.26 g/100 mL) were provided to participants for tasting while recoding their responsive reaction times and brain activities. The results indicated that the most responsive frequency to MSG was at 2 Hz, while the most responsive brain regions were T4CzA2, F8CzA2, and Fp2CzA2. Moreover, the sensitivity of the brain to MSG was significantly higher in the right brain region. This study shows the potential of using EEG to investigate the relevance between different brains response to umami taste, which contributes to better understanding the mechanism of umami perception.


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About this article

Investigating the influence of monosodium L-glutamate on brain responses via scalp-electroencephalogram (scalp-EEG)

Show Author's information Ben Wua, Xirui Zhoua, Imre Blankb, Yuan Liua( )
Department of Food Science & Technology, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Zhejiang Yiming Food Co., Ltd., Wenzhou 325400, China

Peer review under responsibility of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.

Abstract

As the relevance between left and right brain neurons when transmitting electrical signals of umami taste is unknown, the aim of this work was to investigate responsive regions of the brain to the umami tastant monosodium glutamate (MSG) by using scalp-electroencephalogram (EEG) to identify the most responsive brain regions to MSG. Three concentrations of MSG (0.05, 0.12, 0.26 g/100 mL) were provided to participants for tasting while recoding their responsive reaction times and brain activities. The results indicated that the most responsive frequency to MSG was at 2 Hz, while the most responsive brain regions were T4CzA2, F8CzA2, and Fp2CzA2. Moreover, the sensitivity of the brain to MSG was significantly higher in the right brain region. This study shows the potential of using EEG to investigate the relevance between different brains response to umami taste, which contributes to better understanding the mechanism of umami perception.

Keywords: Brain, Electroencephalogram, Taste, Monosodium glutamate, Umami

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Publication history

Received: 07 November 2020
Revised: 10 January 2021
Accepted: 08 February 2021
Published: 02 June 2022
Issue date: September 2022

Copyright

© 2022 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31972198, 31622042) and the National Key R & D Program of China (2016YFD0400803, 2016YFD0401501).

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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