Maturation of inhibitory circuits in the gustatory cortex and expression of taste preference

项目摘要 当动物从依赖母亲的乳汁过渡到觅食和消费时，它们经历了 丰富的新口味。这些经历通过一个过程来调节晚年的味觉偏好 很可能依赖于与味觉和进食相关的神经回路的可塑性。味觉皮质(GC)受累 在处理口味的过程中，这是味觉动机行为以及对味觉的了解所必需的。这些是如何 早期的经历影响味觉偏好的发展，或者GC回路的成熟还不是 调查对象。其他初级感觉系统中抑制回路的成熟是 后天发育。这项提案将调查味觉体验在塑造后来的味觉中的作用。 偏好，是否存在后天敏感窗口，在其中经验塑造口味偏好，以及 细胞和电路级别的GC生理学，对味觉体验敏感，重点是抑制。这个 该提案的第一部分将研究口味偏好是如何从青少年到成年人成熟的。品味的作用 还将考察断奶时与成年时在调节口味偏好方面的经验。 GC内抑制网络的成熟度将通过量化小白蛋白阳性抑制来检验 神经元及其与锥体神经元的连接强度和总的自发GABA能突触 断奶前后大脑皮质锥体神经元的传递。味觉体验的作用 对抑制成熟也将进行检测。最后，抑制的成熟度与抑制的关系 味觉偏好的发展将通过稳定蛋白质的化学干扰来评估 小白蛋白阳性神经元。这些研究将阐明GC中成熟的抑制回路的必要性 品味偏好的行为表达以及在哪种体验中是否存在敏感窗口 形状口味偏好。虽然关于价值或相关物理线索的学习的潜在机制 随着味觉在成年期的研究，导致这种精致回路的后天机制有 没有被描述过。这些研究的结果将表明早期的饮食体验在决定 终生以品味为基础的选择。

Project Summary As animals transition from relying on their mother’s milk to foraging and consuming foods, they experience an abundance of new tastes. These experiences regulate taste preference later in life through a process which likely relies on plasticity in neural circuits associated with taste and feeding. The gustatory cortex (GC) is involved in processing tastes and is required for taste-motivated behaviors as well as learning about tastes. How these early experiences affect the development of taste preferences or the maturation of GC circuits has not been the subject of investigation. Maturation of inhibitory circuits in other primary sensory systems is a hallmark of postnatal development. This proposal will investigate the role of taste experience in shaping later taste preference, whether a postnatal sensitive window exists in which experience shapes taste preference, and the cellular- and circuit-level GC physiology which is sensitive to taste experience, with a focus on inhibition. The first part of the proposal will examine how taste preferences mature from juvenile to adult ages. The role of taste experience at the time of weaning versus in adulthood in modulating taste preference will also be examined. Maturation of inhibitory networks within the GC will be examined by quantifying parvalbumin-positive inhibitory neurons, their connection strength onto pyramidal neurons, and the total spontaneous GABAergic synaptic transmission onto pyramidal neurons in the GC from pre- and post-weaning ages. The role of taste experience on inhibitory maturation will also be examined. Finally, the relationship between the maturation of inhibition and the development of taste preferences will be assessed by chemical disruption of stabilizing proteins on parvalbumin-positive neurons. These studies will elucidate the necessity of a mature inhibitory circuit in GC for the behavioral expression of taste preference as well as whether a sensitive window exists in which experience shapes taste preference. While mechanisms underlying learning about the value or physical cues associated with tastes has been investigated in adulthood, the postnatal mechanisms leading to such a refined circuit have not been described. The results of these studies will indicate the role of early food experiences in determining taste-based choices throughout life.