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The Neural Organization of Taste Neophobia

Award Number: R01DC020465
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/02/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

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The Neural Organization of Taste Neophobia - Project Summary Neophobia is defined as a fearful reaction to novel stimuli or situations. When an animal encounters a novel food, they approach and consume it with cautiousness. For humans, this behavior has significant health consequences. Food Neophobia is especially prevalent in children, and the rejection of certain types of foods has serious consequences for the acute health of the child. Moreover, food Neophobia in childhood has long- lasting adverse effects on dietary choices associated with eating disorders, poor health outcomes, and disease. In rodents, taste Neophobia is an important behavioral reaction that ensures a minimized threat of toxicity in unfamiliar foods, including those that are inherently appetitive. When faced with a novel food or taste, animals consume a relatively small amount during the initial encounter. If this consumption yields no adverse consequences, a memory for a “safe” taste is formed, and animals will more readily increase their intake in subsequent test sessions, a process is known as attenuation of Neophobia. While lesions studies have begun to identify the brain regions involved in taste Neophobia and its attenuation, relatively little is known about the underlying circuits or the neural correlates of these behaviors. For example, there have been no attempts at exploring how Neophobia and attenuation impact neuronal responses in awake, behaving animals in key areas of the central taste pathway, including the gustatory cortex, gustatory thalamus, and nucleus basalis. The overall goal of this project is to understand this process by investigating how information regarding the novelty and familiarity of tastes are encoded within these circuits. Our central hypothesis is that Neophobia is driven by enhanced responses in both gustatory cortex and thalamus, and its attenuation is mediated by cholinergic activity from basal forebrain inputs. We will use calcium imaging of defined cholinergic and gustatory cell types combined with chemogenetic manipulation in awake animals during Neophobia and attenuation to test these hypotheses. The findings of these experiments will be significant in that they will be the first to explore neuronal activity in central taste regions during Neophobia and attenuation. Further, our findings will fundamentally advance our knowledge of how taste Neophobia is encoded in central taste circuits and the role of cholinergic input in this behavior. These findings will be important not only in increasing our understanding of this important form of taste learning but also in furthering our understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying novelty processing within sensory regions.


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 = $385,000 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	62 S DUNLAP ST	MEMPHIS	TN	38103	SHELBY	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	5	7/29/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$385,000
														Subtotal = $385,000

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $385,000 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	62 S DUNLAP ST	MEMPHIS	TN	38103	SHELBY	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	4	6/30/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$385,000
														Subtotal = $385,000

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $385,000 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	62 S DUNLAP ST	MEMPHIS	TN	38103	SHELBY	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	3	7/12/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$385,000
														Subtotal = $385,000

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $385,000 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	62 S DUNLAP ST	MEMPHIS	TN	38103	SHELBY	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	001	2	6/22/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$385,000
2023	2022	UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	62 S DUNLAP ST	MEMPHIS	TN	38103	SHELBY	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	6/2/2023	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $385,000

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $385,000 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE	62 S DUNLAP STREET STE 103	MEMPHIS	TN	38103	SHELBY	USA	Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders	000	1	8/2/2022	NEW	$385,000
														Subtotal = $385,000

Grand Total All Awards = $1,925,000

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The Neural Organization of Taste Neophobia

Award Number: R01DC020465

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/02/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

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