Neural mechanisms of taste information coding in gustatory cortex using MRI and intrinsic optical imaging

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24500396
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Neuroscience in general
• Research Institution: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
• Principal Investigator: KIDA IKUHIRO 独立行政法人情報通信研究機構, 脳情報通信融合研究センター脳機能計測研究室, 主任研究員 (60374716)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YAMAMOTO Toru 北海道大学, 保健科学研究院, 教授 (80261361)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 味覚 / ファンクショナルMRI / 脳機能 / 大脳味覚野 / 脳循環 / マッピング

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To understand a mechanism of taste information processing, we used magnetic resonance imaging at 7 Tesla to measure a brain connectivity related to gustatory area and a distribution of cerebral blood vessels in a rodent. We also performed an intrinsic optical imaging to measure a spatial activated pattern during taste stimulation in the insula cortices of both hemispheres. We successfully observed spatial activated patterns in the dorsal of rhinal vein (rv) and anterior and posterior of middle cerebral artery (mca). The spatial activated patters were overlapped in different taste stimulations. We also observed that the intersection of mca and rv in the insular cortex of the left hemisphere was more anterior to one in the right hemisphere. The locations of gustatory cortex were asymmetrical between the left and right hemispheres, whereas the tastant-induced area was similar location based on the intersection of mca and rv in both hemispheres.

Free Research Field

総合領域 脳神経科学