Elucidation of neural mehcanisms involved in food neophobia as a hesitant behavior

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K14473
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 10040:Experimental psychology-related
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Shinohara Keisuke 大阪大学, 人間科学研究科, 助教 (10803603)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: ネオフォビア / 情動 / 食行動 / ラット / 海馬

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the neural mechanisms involved in food neophobia as a hesitant behavior in rats). First, conventional methods (intake comparison) indicated that the function of the ventral hippocampus, which is thought to be involved in negative emotional expression such as anxiety, may be involved in olfactory neophobia. In addition, we measured the latency from the time when rats put the tip of their nose near the nozzle of a bottle containing a novel taste solution to the time when they ingested the solution. Latencies when rats ingested a novel taste solution tended to be longer than when they ingested water. Although further investigation is needed to determine whether this behavioral trend reflects hesitant behavior or not, we clarified a part of the behavioral change in rats when presented with the novel taste solution.

Free Research Field

行動神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

食物の呈する匂いへの反応も食物新奇恐怖の特徴を説明する上で重要であるが、嗅覚性新奇恐怖の研究例は少なく、未解明な点が多かった。本実験の結果は、味と匂いの複合刺激としての食物に対する新奇恐怖の生起メカニズムを解明するために重要な知見と言える。食物新奇恐怖は現代人の非健康的な食習慣と関連することから、その脳内メカニズムの解明によって、ヒトの食習慣改善のための介入法につながる生理学的・神経科学的基盤を提供できる。また、食物新奇恐怖を示す動物の行動傾向を解明することは、飲食物を報酬とする行動課題 (迷路課題やオペラント学習課題) のプロトコルの精緻化につながる可能性も考えられる。