Neural integration of nutrients, sensory inputs, and health improve effects in foods

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18H02160
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 38050:Food sciences-related
• Research Institution: National Institute for Physiological Sciences
• Principal Investigator: Nakajima Ken-ichiro 生理学研究所, 生体機能調節研究領域, 准教授 (70554492)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 味覚 / 視床下部 / 脳幹 / オプトジェネティクス / カルシウムイメージング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The gustatory system plays a critical role in sensing appetitive and aversive taste stimuli for evaluating food quality. While the peripheral gustatory system is well studied these days, the gustatory system in the brain is still unclear. Although taste preference is known to change depending on internal states such as hunger, a mechanistic insight remains unclear. In this study, we investigated neuronal mechanism that transduce or modulate the gustatory sensation using transgenic mice and recombinant adeno-associated virus based functional assays. We first succeeded in the identification of neuronal cells that specifically transduce sweet taste in the brain stem. We next found that hypothalamic neuronal network that regulate hunger-induced taste modification. These results will provide us the neural basis for pleasant taste.

Free Research Field

神経科学・食品科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では最新の神経科学の分子ツールとマウス行動実験を駆使することで、脳内の味覚伝達・調節の仕組みの一端を解明した。今後、これらを端緒として、これまで官能評価などにより記述的にしか評価できなかった「美味しさ」の神経基盤の実態解明が期待される。また、肥満や老化に伴う味覚の変化は過食や食欲不振を引き起こす可能性があるがその原因はわかっていない。このため、今回の成果はこのような疾患・体調不良時の摂食・味覚中枢の機能解明の上でも重要な知見であり、今後、「味覚と健康」の関係を解明していく上で役立つと思われる。