7 - Taste of Life: Age-related Differences in Fungiform Papillae Density in a Free-ranging Population of Rhesus Macaque

Poster Board Number: 7
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Co-authors:

Samuel Bauman - Caribbean Primate Research Center - University of Puerto Rico; Lauren Brent - Center for Research in Animal Behavior - University of Exeter; Thary Cheng - Arizona College of Dental Medicine; Arthur Fernandes - Anthropology and Archaeology - University of Calgary; James Higham - Department of Anthropology - New York University; Melween Martinez - Caribbean Primate Research Center - University of Puerto Rico; Amanda Melin - University of Calgary; Michael Montague - Department of Neuroscience - University of Pennsylvania; Rachel Munds - Anthropology & Archaeology - University of Calgary; Noah Snyder-Mackler - University of Arizona; Carrie Veilleux - Anatomical Sciences - Midwestern University; Brandon Vera Covarrubias - Midwestern University

Abstract Body : In humans, taste sensitivity declines with age, which can impact health and quality of life in elderly individuals. Several factors are hypothesized to contribute to age-related taste decline, including a decrease in fungiform papillae density (FPD) with increasing age. Fungiform papillae are located on the anterior surface of the tongue and contain structures that transmit the sensation of taste. While age-related declines in FPD are found in humans, they have not been observed in animal models. In this study, we investigate the relationship between age and FPD in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), an emerging model of human aging. We predicted that older individuals would exhibit lower FPD, controlling for effects of sex and body size. We collected images of the anterior tongue from 102 free-ranging macaques of known age and body mass from the Cayo Santiago Primate Field Station in Puerto Rico. Images were taken from individuals ranging from infancy to late adulthood (0.4 - 19.1 years). For each individual, we calculated total FPD (papillae/cm 2) for a 6-mm circle on the anterior tongue. Because body size varied with age, we also calculated “relative FPD”, defined as total FPD/body mass. Using multiple linear regression, we found a significant negative effect of age on both total FPD (p = 0.003) and FPD relative to body size (p < 0.0001). Post-hoc Kruskal-Wallis tests indicate that total FPD is significantly higher in infants and juveniles compared to adults. Total FPD is also higher in young adults compared to older adults (p = 0.042). These results were consistent with our prediction, suggesting that macaques exhibit age-related declines in FPD similar to humans. Macaques may offer a useful model for studying the effect of aging on human taste.









Keywords: Taste, Fungiform papillae, Aging, Natural population









Support for this project was provided by Midwestern University (MN, CCV), Canada Research Chairs program (ADM), the New Frontiers Research Foundation NFRFE-2018-02159 (ADM and JPH), and the NIH (R01-MH096875, R01-MH118203, Office of Research Infrastructure Programs [ORIP] P40-OD012217).