# Multisensory mechanisms underlying flavor preference formation

> **NIH NIH R01** · WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2021 · $383,786

## Abstract

SUMMARY
Anyone who has ever suffered a common cold knows that both taste and smell contribute to our experience of
food. Understanding how smell and taste interact to ultimately drive food choice will make a major impact on our
understanding of disorders that are typically characterized by abnormal food choice, most notably obesity and
diabetes. The neural mechanisms underlying taste-smell interactions, however, remain largely unknown, and
are the focus of the present proposal. The proposed work follows directly from existing behavioral and neuro-
physiological data. Behavioral work has demonstrated an influence of taste on smell in flavor preference for-
mation. Recent work from our own lab has identified a potential neural substrate for mediating the influence of
taste on smell by demonstrating that primary olfactory cortex (OC) receives gustatory input via primary gustatory
cortex (GC). Using rats as a model system, the present proposal will combine naturalistic multisensory stimulus
presentation, optogenetics and electrophysiological recordings in the context of a flavor preference learning task
to investigate the role of interactions between the primary gustatory and olfactory systems in mediating multi-
sensory flavor preference learning. Specific Aim 1 will use anatomical tracing, optogenetic manipulation of GC
neuron axon terminals in OC, and electrophysiological mapping experiments to dissect the systems- and circuit-
level organization of gustatory input to OC. Preliminary data suggest the existence of monosynaptic projections
from GC to OC. Specific Aim 2 will then record activity from single OC neurons in response to uni- and multi-
sensory flavor stimuli to characterize convergence and integration of flavor-related gustatory and olfactory input.
Preliminary data suggest that taste and smell inputs to OC are integrated through functional, spatial and temporal
convergence on single OC neurons. Specific Aim 3 will place the network relaying gustatory input to OC in the
context of a taste-mediated flavor preference learning task to determine the causal role GCOC projections in
modulating odor representations and forming flavor preferences. Preliminary data suggest that multisensory ex-
perience induces lasting changes in OC odor responses. The results obtained from these experiments will pro-
vide novel insight into how OC functions in a natural, behaviorally-relevant multisensory context, specifically
uncovering the mechanisms underlying taste-smell interactions in flavor perception and preference formation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10224877
- **Project number:** 5R01DC016063-05
- **Recipient organization:** WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Joost Maier
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $383,786
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-21 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10224877

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10224877, Multisensory mechanisms underlying flavor preference formation (5R01DC016063-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10224877. Licensed CC0.

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