NEURAL BASIS OF TASTE ELICITED INGESTION AND REJECTION

描述（改编自申请人的摘要）： 这项建议的目的是确定神经基板中， 啮齿类动物的后脑，味觉刺激通过它引导摄食行为。的 摄食行为的调节是极其复杂的，涉及广泛的 区域的中枢神经系统，但基本的调节功能， 从不可口的刺激中确定可口的味道在尾部完成 脑干解剖学研究表明，多突触通路中， 网状结构作为味觉区之间的界面， 孤束核和产生 进食和拒绝的完美反应。描绘出这个地方 回路是理解下行前脑通路 进一步影响消费功能。网状的具体细分 包括外侧小细胞区和中间区的形成， 被假设为介导感觉运动协调的特定成分。的 提出的实验联合收割机结合几种技术，以进一步了解 这些网状区域的连接，神经化学和功能（1） 免疫组织化学双标法鉴定 神经递质表型与伴随的表达增加， 立即早期基因c-fos由味觉刺激产生，（2）评估 连接和神经化学表型的中间神经元的投射， 舌和咀嚼运动神经元的特异性池用双 标记技术使用两个遗传标记的跨突触特性， 伪狂犬病病毒变异株，（3）测定 网状结构的小区域可逆失活， 微量输注利多卡因或拮抗剂， 神经递质在回路上的摄取和排斥引起的 口内刺激和肌电测量的子集， 舌肌、咀嚼肌和咽肌慢性疾病如肥胖症， 高血压和神经性厌食症都涉及消化功能障碍。 了解基本生物学决定的神经基础， 摄取或拒绝食物将有助于最终解决这些慢性 使人衰弱的疾病

DESCRIPTION (Adapted From The Applicant's Abstract): The objectives of this proposal are to determine the neural substrates in the rodent hindbrain through which gustatory stimuli guide ingestive behavior. The regulation of ingestive behavior is exceedingly complex, involving widespread regions of the central nervous system, but the basic regulatory function of taste to determine palatable from unpalatable stimuli is complete in the caudal brainstem. Anatomical studies suggest that polysynaptic pathways in the reticular formation serve as an interface between the gustatory region of the nucleus of the solitary tract and the oromotor nuclei that produce the consummatory responses of ingestion and rejection. Delineating this local circuitry is prerequisite to understanding how descending forebrain pathways further influence consummatory function. Specific subdivisions of the reticular formation including the lateral parvocellular and intermediate zones are hypothesized to mediate specific components of sensorimotor coordination. The proposed experiments combine several techniques to further understand the connectivity, neurochemistry and function of these reticular regions by (1) using double-labeling immunohistochemistry for identification of neurotransmitter phenotypes with concomitant increases in the expression of the immediate early gene c-fos produced by gustatory stimulation, (2) assessing the connectivity and neurochemical phenotype of interneurons with projections to specific pools of lingual and masticatory motorneurons assayed with double labeling techniques that use the transynaptic properties of two genetically altered strains of pseudorabies virus, (3) determining the effects of reversible inactivation of small regions of the reticular formation following microinfusions of either lidocaine or antagonists to suspected neurotransmitters in the circuitry on ingestion and rejection elicited with intraoral stimulation and measured electromyographically from a subset of lingual, masticatory and pharyngeal muscles. Chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and anorexia nervosa all involve ingestive dysfunction. Understanding the neurological basis of the fundamental biological decision to ingest or reject food will contribute to the eventual solution of these chronic debilitating disorders.