“Electric Taste” after Section of the Chorda Tympani

Abstract

“ELECTRIC taste” is the sensation elicited on stimulating certain parts of the tongue with a.c. or d.c. current¹. A sour or metallic taste, experienced with anodal stimulation of the anterior tongue, is mediated in part by the chordy tympani nerve². When the chorda is cut, as frequentla necessary in middle ear surgery, the resulting ageusia of the ipsilateral anterior tongue is associated with loss of “electric taste” in the range of current densities usually employed^3,4. With a somewhat smaller electrode which delivered higher current density with better localization than in previous studies^3,4, testing individual patients on several occasions, we found that the threshold for “electric taste” did not immediately reach the values seen long after surgery. Instead, it rose slowly over a period of weeks. The term “electric taste” is used advisedly: the response to anodal stimulation on the operated side was described by some patients as “stinging” or “pricking”, by others as distinctly “acid” or similar to the normal side.