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Circuit Mechanisms of Cross-Organ Taste Integration for Feeding in Drosophila

Award Number: F31DC023488
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2025
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2028

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Circuit Mechanisms of Cross-Organ Taste Integration for Feeding in Drosophila - PROJECT SUMMARY We integrate sensory signals, like smell and taste, to make decisions about the type and quantity of food to eat on a daily basis. Distinct sensory inputs converge in brain regions that regulate food intake, such as the gustatory cortex, but the neural circuit mechanisms that integrate sensory information to control food consumption remain largely unknown. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster provides an excellent model system to address this question, as we can genetically target individual neurons in the fly brain and use the whole-brain connectome to identify pathways linking sensory input to motor output. Just as humans use multiple sensory cues to evaluate the quality of food, flies use distinct taste inputs from their legs and feeding organ, the proboscis, to decide whether to initiate feeding. This study will determine where and how neural circuits in the fly brain integrate concurrent taste input from the legs and proboscis to regulate feeding, providing a model to more broadly understand the logic of how neural circuits integrate different food-related signals. The experiments in Aim 1 will determine how sugar inputs on the legs and proboscis are integrated to regulate the likelihood that flies will initiate feeding and the quantity of food they consume. In vivo calcium imaging experiments in Aim 2 will determine how concurrent sugar input on the legs and proboscis influences the activity of individual neurons in a neural circuit known to respond to sugar and promote feeding initiation. These recordings of neural activity, combined with an analysis of neuronal connectivity in the whole-brain connectome, will provide a neural substrate for the behavior identified in Aim 1. Together, the findings from this study will identify the neural circuit mechanisms that integrate distinct taste inputs to promote adaptive feeding behavior. The basic principles of chemosensory processing and its role in feeding regulation are conserved across species. Thus, future work can use our findings to develop hypotheses about the neural circuits that combine sensory cues to regulate food consumption— and investigate whether these circuits contribute to dysregulated eating— in rodents and humans.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $50,114 )
2026	2026	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	2	8/13/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$50,114
														Subtotal = $50,114

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $49,538 )
2025	2025	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	1	8/28/2025	NEW	$0
2025	2025	EMORY UNIVERSITY	201 DOWMAN DR NE	ATLANTA	GA	30322	DEKALB	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	8/28/2025	NEW	$49,538
														Subtotal = $49,538

Grand Total All Awards = $99,652

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Circuit Mechanisms of Cross-Organ Taste Integration for Feeding in Drosophila

Award Number: F31DC023488

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2025

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 08/31/2028

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