Study for the brain mechanisms of ingestive behavior -interaction between palatability and memory-

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24500973
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Eating habits, studies on eating habits
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: INUI Tadashi 大阪大学, 人間科学研究科, 助教 (40324735)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: おいしさ / 記憶 / 味覚 / 脳 / 摂取行動 / 扁桃体 / 学習

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To reveal the ingestive behavior regulated by palatability and memory, we aimed to assess the brain mechanisms of memory establishment and palatability shift in conditioned taste aversion (CTA) in rats. Initially, we developed an experimental chamber for detecting the rat's approaches to a drinking spout, and counting their licks to the spout. We found that the rats show increased "conflict" (rats approach, but not lick, the spout) and decreased "burst" (high-frequency of licks) after conditioning. We defined that conflict indicates memory establishment, and burst indicates palatability shift. Based on these ideas, in behavioral pharmacology experiments, we examined the effects of temporal inactivation of the basolateral amygdala (BLA) on conflict and burst. We demonstrated that BLA inactivation significantly decreases conflict and increases burst. These results suggest that the BLA is a key brain region for both of memory establishment and palatability shift in CTA.

Free Research Field

行動神経科学