The mechanisms of flavor recognition related to pleasure of food consumption in the CNS

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K12054
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Social dentistry
• Research Institution: Meikai University
• Principal Investigator: Mizoguchi Naoko 明海大学, 歯学部, 講師 (00548919)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 小林 真之 日本大学, 歯学部, 教授 (00300830)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 風味 / 脳神経科学 / 光学計測

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Elderly people are at high risk of suffering from dysphagia (having feeding/swallowing difficulty) in Japan which is a markedly ‘super-aged society’. The sensation of flavor could be useful as a motivator keeping QOL and an aid in the rehabilitation. Flavor of foods is known a combination of smell, taste, texture, and more. However, little is known whether and how flavor sensory inputs converged in the CNS. To address these issues, we observed rodents cortical responses to either or both of two stimuli, odorants and tastants, by in vivo optical imaging with flavoprotein autofluorescence or voltage sensitive dye. These results suggest that partial of the gustatory and olfactory information was integrated in anterior insular cortex, and intracellular signaling factors were also involved it.

Free Research Field

医歯薬学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

超高齢社会である我が国の人口動態統計では，死亡原因について肺炎と誤嚥性肺炎を分けて集計するようになっている。高齢者の肺炎による死亡の内訳として誤嚥性肺炎が占める割合が高いためであるが, その背景には主なリスク因子として摂食嚥下障害が存在すると考えられている。誤嚥性肺炎および摂食嚥下障害について理解を深めるとともに，予防法や医療介護を含めた対応方法の充実が期待される。本研究成果で得られた風味認識に関わる知見は，それらに関わる科学的根拠の一つとして応用できると考えられる。