psychophysical-tracking-method-to-assess-taste-detection-thresholds

Psychophysical Tracking Method to Assess Taste Detection Thresholds in Children, Adolescents, and Adults: The Taste Detection Threshold (TDT) Test

This paper describes a two-alternative, forced-choice, staircase, tracking procedure, called the Taste Detection Threshold (TDT) test, that provides a ...

National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Section of Sensory Science and Metabolism

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain and bowel dysfunction in the absence of structural abnormality. Diagnosis can be challenging and often leads to extensive medical tests, non-effective therapeutic modalities, and reduced quality of life (QOL). Identifying factors associated with dysfunction have the potential to enhance outcomes. Participants with IBS ( = 41) and healthy volunteers ( = 74) were recruited into this cross-sectional, descriptive, natural history protocol at the National Institute of Health, Clinical Center. Demographic characteristics were self-reported. QOL was assessed with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Quality of Life (IBS-QOL) questionnaire. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, factorial ANOVA, and multiple regression. Individuals with IBS reported lower QOL scores across all QOL-subscales compared to healthy controls. Normal-weight women and overweight men with IBS reported the greatest QOL impairment. Body fat percent had confounding effects on the relationship between IBS and QOL. The disparity between QOL scores in participants with IBS by both gender and weight groups may reflect different social pressures perceived by normal and overweight women and men. These findings enhance the recognition of the disparities in patients with chronic symptoms and thereby lead to personalized assessment and interventions to improve their QOL.

Gender and Weight Influence Quality of Life in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Obesity is common among kidney transplant recipients; However biological mediators of obesity are not well understood in this population. Because subcutaneous adipose tissue can be easily obtained during kidney transplant surgery, it provides a unique avenue for studying the mechanisms of obesity for this group. Although differential gene expression patterns were previously profiled for kidney transplant patients, gene co-expression patterns can shed light on gene modules not yet explored on the coordinative behaviors of gene transcription in biological and disease processes from a systems perspective.

Gene co-expression networks are associated with obesity-related traits in kidney transplant recipients.

Neuroimaging techniques to measure the function of the human brain such as electroencephalography (EEG), positron emission tomography (PET), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), are powerful tools for understanding the underlying neural circuitry associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and obesity. The sensory (visual, taste and smell) paradigms used in neuroimaging studies represent an ideal platform to investigate the connection between the different neural circuits subserving the reward/executive control systems in these disorders, which may offer a translational mechanism for novel intervention predictions. Thus, the current review provides an integrated summary of the recent neuroimaging studies that have applied cue-reactivity paradigms and neuromodulation strategies to explore underlying alterations in neural circuitry as well in treatment strategies in AUD and obesity. Finally, we discuss literature on mechanisms associated with increased alcohol sensitivity post-bariatric surgery (BS) which offers guidance for future research to use sensory percepts in elucidating the relation of reward signaling in AUD development post-BS.

Sensory cue reactivity: Sensitization in alcohol use disorder and obesity.

To address the challenge of computational identification of cell type-specific regulatory elements on a genome-wide scale.

Article	Year
Gender and Weight Influence Quality of Life in Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Journal of clinical medicine\| PubMed ID: 29104254	2017
Gene co-expression networks are associated with obesity-related traits in kidney transplant recipients. BMC medical genomics\| PubMed ID: 32151267	2020
Sensory cue reactivity: Sensitization in alcohol use disorder and obesity. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews\| PubMed ID: 33587959	2021
SeqEnhDL: sequence-based classification of cell type-specific enhancers using deep learning models. BMC research notes\| PubMed ID: 33741075	2021

Paule V. Joseph

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