Processing Gustatory Information in the Fly Brain

糖是动物从环境中获取能量以生存的必需营养素， 个体和物种。感觉神经元上的味觉受体直接检测潜在食物中的糖 来源，让动物评估营养价值。味觉系统的糖检测驱动先天摄食 行为，认为糖的内在价值是嵌入在先天电路建立在发展和 在进化上更精细。此外，糖对动物的生存至关重要，并作为奖励刺激， 对其他线索的正效价。本提案的长期目标是深入了解 进入检测糖的味觉通路，以确定这些基本化合物如何促进进食， 作为奖励信号。目标1将研究从感官检测到摄食启动的味觉加工途径， 利用对回路中几个神经元的行为、功能和解剖学研究。这些研究将提供 深入了解味觉检测和内部状态如何整合到神经回路中，以做出进食决定 并将其付诸实施。目标2将研究糖的味道检测如何作为奖励来传递积极的效价 其他相关线索。这些研究将检验一个假设，即有两种途径， 奖励的不同方面，一个味觉特异性通路和一个传递更广泛环境的通路， 上下文这些研究将确定糖的感官激活是如何转化为有益的品质， 甜蜜的味道在记忆系统中。所提出的分子遗传学、细胞学和功能学方法将 提供在其他系统中难以实现的味道处理的全面分析。这些研究 将提供对味觉信息如何在大脑中处理的深入了解， 了解昆虫喂养，与限制虫媒疾病的传播有关。

Sugars are essential nutrients that allow animals to derive energy from the environment to survive, as individuals and as species. Gustatory receptors on sensory neurons directly detect sugars in potential food sources, allowing animals to assess nutrient value. Sugar detection by the gustatory system drives innate feeding behaviors, arguing that the inherent value of sugars is embedded in innate circuits set up in development and refined over evolution. In addition, sugars are critical to animal survival and serve as rewarding stimuli that impart positive valence to other cues for learned associations. The long-term objective of this proposal is to gain insight into the taste pathways that detect sugars, to determine how these essential compounds promote feeding and act as reward signals. Aim 1 will examine taste processing pathways from sensory detection to feeding initiation, using behavioral, functional, and anatomical studies of several neurons in the circuit. These studies will provide insight into how taste detection and internal state are integrated in neural circuits to arrive at feeding decisions and to carry them out. Aim 2 will examine how sugar taste detection serves as a reward to impart positive valence onto other associated cues. These studies will test the hypothesis that there are two pathways that convey different aspects of reward, one taste-specific pathway and one pathway that relays a broader environmental context. These studies will determine how sugar sensory activation is transformed into the rewarding qualities of sweet taste in the memory system. The proposed molecular genetic, cellular and functional approaches will provide a comprehensive analysis of taste processing that is difficult to achieve in other systems. These studies will provide insight into how gustatory information is processed in the brain and an essential foundation for understanding insect feeding, relevant to limiting the spread of insect-borne disease.