# Coordinating hunger and thirst drives in Drosophila

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2020 · $366,589

## Abstract

Feeding decisions are tightly regulated based on internal needs. Signals of hunger and thirst are
detected by interoceptive neurons that promote specific consumption to restore homeostasis. Although
generally considered independently, recent studies have demonstrated that interactions between hunger and
thirst drives are important to coordinate competing needs. The aim of this proposal is to examine how food and
water consumption is coordinately regulated, using the well developed Drosophila system as a model. These
studies will evaluate how multiple internal signals are integrated within a neuron to regulate activity and how
the activity of a single set of neurons regulates two opponent behaviors. This research takes advantage of
established behavioral assays for water and sucrose consumption in Drosophila, molecular genetics to rapidly
manipulate genes and neural function, single-cell electrophysiology for precise measurements of signal
integration, and large-scale calcium imaging approaches to study network interactions. Specific Aim 1 will
examine how signals of hunger and thirst modulate activity of interoceptive neurons, providing insight into how
multiple signals are integrated within a neuron over time. Specific Aim 2 will characterize neurons downstream
of the interoceptive neurons to examine how activity is transmitted to circuits to oppositely regulate two
behaviors. Specific Aim 3 will determine how interoceptive neurons alter the responses in taste sensorimotor
circuits to examine how internal states generate plastic changes in feeding networks. The proposed efforts will
determine how internal signals of nutritional state are integrated across time to coordinate feeding decisions.
The long-term objective of this work is to provide insight into how neuromodulators regulate circuits and
behavior over long timescales, a basic problem in neuroscience relevant across systems.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9875486
- **Project number:** 5R01GM128209-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Kristin E Scott
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $366,589
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-04-15 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9875486

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9875486, Coordinating hunger and thirst drives in Drosophila (5R01GM128209-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9875486. Licensed CC0.

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