Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Obesity is now recognized as a global epidemic. A staggering 65 and 49% of Canadian men and women, respectively, are overweight or obese, making it evident there is an urgent need to understand the mechanisms underlying obesity-inducing overeating. The brain controls virtually all aspects of food intake, from the initiation and termination of eating to the happiness we feel when we enjoy a tasty meal. Here, we propose to study how unexplored brain circuits contribute to our innate attraction to delicious tastes, and our avoidance of unpleasant tastes. Using cutting edge neuroscience methods, we will conduct behavioral tests in mice to assess whether particular connections in the brain are responsible for our interpretation of a taste as being delectable versus offensive. We will then explore whether these connections can be highjacked to switch the classification of taste from delicious to disgusting, and vice versa. Complimentary neuroanatomical and cellular studies will also be carried out to unravel which brain areas and neurons act together to ultimately elicit these behaviors. Our work will provide novel insight into how taste preferences and selections may be manipulated to disrupt unhealthy food choices and, therefore, help in the battle against overeating and obesity.