Chemical Senses Advance Access published online on March 30, 2007
Chemical Senses, doi:10.1093/chemse/bjm014
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Temporal Interactions between Oral Irritants: Piperine, Zingerone, and Capsaicin
1 Department of Psychology and 2 Departments of Otolaryngology, Neurobiology, Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Bioengineering, 107 Eye and Ear Institute, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA 3 Present address: Bethany College, Bethany, WV 26032, USA
Correspondence to be sent to: Carey D. Balaban, Department of Otolaryngology, 107 Eye and Ear Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. e-mail: cbalaban{at}pitt.edu
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Abstract |
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Sequential presentation of 2 irritants may produce cross-sensitization or cross-adaptation effects upon introduction of the second irritant. In Experiment 1, subjects were given either 34 min of stimulation with zingerone, capsaicin, or piperine or one of those irritants for 23 min followed by blanks for 23 min. In Experiment 2, subjects received one irritant for 23-min irritants, followed immediately by another for 23 min (piperine 
zingerone, piperine capsaicin, zingerone piperine, or zingerone capsaicin). Cross-sensitization was observed for the piperine zingerone, zingerone piperine, and piperine capsaicin groups; cross-adaptation was observed for the zingerone capsaicin group. Cross-adaptation and cross-sensitization were predicted by adding the independent time courses of the respective irritants, starting the second at the offset of the first. These responses were also predicted by a mathematical model of central processing of primary afferent responses.
Key words: adaptation, capsaicin, piperine, psychophysics, zingerone
Accepted 21 February 2007