# Voluntary exercise modulation of olfactory function

> **NIH NIH F31** · FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $40,019

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 Previous efforts in our lab have uncovered that consumption of a fatty diet leads to a reduction in the number of
olfactory sensory neurons in mice. Voluntary exercise has been shown to protect neurons in several brain areas from
different types of injuries. The primary objective of this project is to determine if participation in voluntary exercise is
capable of protecting the neurons of the olfactory system from the detrimental effects of a fatty diet. Beyond
protection, I also intend to determine if the well-established neuromodulatory effects of voluntary exercise extend to
the olfactory system. The evidence that associates olfactory disorders with neurodegenerative disorders, such as
Alzheimer’s, continues to grow and for this reason it is important to investigate the effects of both diet and exercise on
this oft-ignored sensory system. These studies will be accomplished through modification of diet composition to induce
obesity, application of pair-feeding to manipulate body weight gain, provision of a home cage running wheel,
histological analyses to determine anatomical changes, and electrophysiological analyses to assess changes in cellular
biophysical properties. The basis of these experiments is the hypothesis that a fatty diet creates an inflammatory
environment that damages the olfactory system of mice and voluntary exercise is a neuromodulator of the olfactory
system that will prevent this damage if the mice are allowed to participate in such exercise while they subsist on a fatty
diet. The specific aims designed to investigate this hypothesis are 1) To determine if ingestion of a fatty diet without
overconsumption, and therefore without the concomitant weight gain, is sufficient to decrease olfactory sensory neuron
abundance and their correlate axonal projections. 2) To determine if voluntary exercise is capable of preventing and/or
abrogating the structural loss in the olfactory epithelium and olfactory bulb that is caused by consumption of a fatty
diet. 3) – To determine if voluntary exercise ameliorates the loss of insulin modulation in mice challenged with a fatty
diet. Electrophysiological properties of the olfactory bulb primary neurons will be determined and compared.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9831635
- **Project number:** 5F31DC016817-03
- **Recipient organization:** FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Brandon Chelette
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $40,019
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-12-08 → 2020-12-07

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9831635

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9831635, Voluntary exercise modulation of olfactory function (5F31DC016817-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9831635. Licensed CC0.

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