Neural mechanisms underlying integration of taste and smell

项目摘要 虽然嗅觉和味觉之间的相互作用是指导食物选择的关键因素， 气味和味道的多感觉整合的神经机制仍然是未知的。一个更 对这些神经生物学过程的透彻理解将有助于更好地了解以 不健康的食物选择，如肥胖或糖尿病。吃东西的同时激活嗅觉， 味觉系统产生持久的气味-味道关联。味觉区味觉的主要皮层区域， 皮层（GC）是味觉和嗅觉信息汇聚的主要场所。我们实验室最近的工作 确定GC中功能不同的神经元群体代表了个体的不同特性， 不成对的气味或味道。然而，GC中的神经元如何代表气味-味道混合物，以及神经元如何代表气味-味道混合物， 嗅觉和味觉的整合和加工机制仍不清楚。最近的行为和 生理学研究表明，感觉皮质之间的皮质-皮质相互作用是 多感觉整合，这表明来自功能不同的前部（aPC）和后部的投射 (pPC)梨状皮质的区域（即，嗅觉皮层）调节GC中的多模态化学感觉处理。 以大鼠为模型系统，将联合收割机行为电生理学和光遗传学技术相结合 研究GC神经元和梨状皮质功能不同区域之间的回路 调节气味和味道的多感官整合。具体目标将检验以下假设： 图1：GC中不同的神经元群体编码气味-味道混合物的化学特性和享乐值。 目的2：GC中对气味和味道都有反应的神经元接受代表化学身份的aPC输入 气味和味道的混合物。目的3：GC中对气味和味觉都有反应的神经元接受pPC输入 代表气味和气味-味道混合物的享乐值。每个具体目标的结果将有助于 关于嗅觉和味觉整合的皮质-皮质回路的基础知识， 为研究这些皮质-皮质回路在引导食物中的作用提供了必要的前奏 选择.

PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT Although interactions between the senses of smell and taste are a key factor for guiding food choices, the neural mechanisms underlying the multisensory integration of odors and tastes remain largely unknown. A more thorough understanding of these neurobiological processes will provide better insight into diseases characterized by unhealthy food choices, such as obesity or diabetes. Eating food simultaneously activates the olfactory and gustatory systems to generate enduring odor-taste associations. The primary cortical area for taste, gustatory cortex (GC), is a principal site of convergent gustatory and olfactory information. Recent work from our lab determined that functionally distinct populations of neurons in GC represent different properties of individual unpaired odors or tastes. However, how neurons in GC represent odor-taste mixtures, as well as the neural mechanisms that underlie integration and processing of smell and taste remain unclear. Recent behavioral and physiological studies show that cortico-cortical interactions between sensory cortices are fundamental to multisensory integration, suggesting that projections from the functionally distinct anterior (aPC) and posterior (pPC) regions of piriform cortex (i.e., olfactory cortex) modulate multimodal chemosensory processing in GC. Using rats as a model system, this proposal will combine behaving electrophysiology and optogenetic techniques to investigate how the circuit between neurons in GC and the functionally distinct regions of piriform cortex mediates multisensory integration of odors and tastes. The Specific Aims will test the following hypotheses: Aim 1: Different populations of neurons in GC encode the chemical identity and hedonic value of odor-taste mixtures. Aim 2: Neurons in GC that respond to both odors and tastes receive aPC input representing the chemical identity of odor-taste mixtures. Aim 3: Neurons in GC that respond to both odors and tastes receive pPC input representing the hedonic value of odors and odor-taste mixtures. The results of each Specific Aim will contribute fundamental knowledge about the cortico-cortical circuitry underlying the integration of smell and taste and provide a necessary prelude for investigating the role that these cortico-cortical circuits play in guiding food choices.