Fig. 18

Distribution of 4 different types of single taste fibers according to their best response to the 4 basic stimuli in CT and NG. The most striking difference is a large number of CT fibers responding to NaCl, including umami compounds, while the Q fibers in the NG dominate. The asterisk over sucrose signifies the statistically significant difference between CT and NG in regard to responses to sucrose. This difference mimics and explains the human experience of tasting mostly salt and sweet on the front and bitter on the back of the tongue. [46]