# Cortical mechanisms for the postnatal development of taste preference.

> **NIH NIH R01** · STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK · 2021 · $493,347

## Abstract

Project Summary
 As animals transition from relying on their mother’s milk to foraging and consuming foods, they experience
a large variety of new tastants. These experiences regulate their taste preferences later in life through a process
that likely relies on plasticity in neural circuits associated with taste and feeding. The gustatory cortex (GC) is
involved in processing taste information. It is required for taste-motivated behaviors and for learning about the
chemosensory and affective dimensions of gustatory stimuli. The effects of early experiences with tastants on
the development of taste preferences or the maturation of GC circuits has not been investigated.
 Our previous work in a different sensory cortex demonstrated a central role for inhibitory neurons in
experience-dependent plasticity and postnatal circuit refinement. In this proposal, we will take advantage of our
previous work and set out to investigate how the maturation of inhibition in GC contributes to the expression of
taste preferences.
 The first part of the proposal will determine how taste preferences mature over the course of postnatal
development and assess the role of experience with tastants on the modulation of taste preferences. Our
preliminary observations suggest that there is a sensitive period for the experience-dependent modulation of
taste preferences that is restricted to the weeks between the time weaning and young adulthood.
 We will also assess the time course of maturation of inhibitory circuits in GC and their sensitivity to
experience with tastants. Finally, we will assess the relationship between the maturation of inhibition and the
development of taste preferences using a variety of approaches including enzymatic and chemogenetic
manipulations of inhibitory circuits’ maturation.
 These studies will determine the role of inhibitory circuit in GC in the behavioral expression of taste
preferences. While mechanisms underlying learning about the value or physical cues associated with tastes has
been investigated in adulthood, the mechanisms leading to such a refined circuit in postnatal development have
not been described. The results of these studies will indicate the role of early food experiences in determining
taste-based choices throughout life.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10316724
- **Project number:** 1R01DC019827-01
- **Recipient organization:** STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
- **Principal Investigator:** Arianna Maffei
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $493,347
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-15 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10316724

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10316724, Cortical mechanisms for the postnatal development of taste preference. (1R01DC019827-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10316724. Licensed CC0.

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