Human taste cortical areas studied with functional magnetic resonance imaging: evidence of functional lateralization related to handedness

Whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to detect local hemodynamic changes reflecting cortical activation in five left handed and five right handed human subjects during bilateral stimulation of the tongue with various tastes. Activation was found bilaterally in the insula and the perisylvian region. These regions correspond to the primary taste cortical areas identified with electrophysiological recordings in monkeys and suggested from former clinical observations in hu man subjects. Moreover, a unilateral projection was described for the first time in the inferior part of the insula of the dominant hemisphere, according to the subject's handedness. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.