Lab 7 (ƒ6) - Auditory, Vestibular, Gustatory and Olfaction Systems
Midbrain and Diencephalon
The 2° gustatory afferents continue their uncrossed ascending course in the central tegmental tract to the thalamus. Taste information is conveyed to the most medial and caudal part of the ventral posteromedial (VPM) nucleus of the thalamus. Available evidence suggests that the VPM neurons subserving taste are separated spatially from those related to somatosensory sensations from the face. The axons of the gustatory VPM neurons travel in the posterior limb of the internal capsule to the pars opercularis of the postcentral gyrus and the adjacent insular cortex. Electrical stimulation of these areas in unanesthetized human patients produce gustatory sensations.