Selective integration of diverse taste inputs within a single taste modality

A fundamental question in sensory processing is how different channels of sensory input are processed to regulate behavior. Different input channels may converge onto common downstream pathways to drive the same behaviors, or they may activate separate pathways to regulate distinct behaviors. We inv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	eLife Vol. 12
Main Authors:	Deere, Julia U, Sarkissian, Arvin A, Yang, Meifeng, Uttley, Hannah A, Martinez Santana, Nicole, Nguyen, Lam, Ravi, Kaushiki, Devineni, Anita V
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England eLife Science Publications, Ltd 24-01-2023 eLife Sciences Publications Ltd eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Subjects:	Animals Behavior Bitter taste Brain - physiology Connectivity Drosophila Drosophila melanogaster - physiology feeding Food Information processing neural circuits Neural networks Neurons Neuroscience Roles Sensory integration sensory processing Taste Taste - physiology Taste Perception - physiology sensory processing D. melanogaster neuroscience feeding neural circuits taste
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Summary:	A fundamental question in sensory processing is how different channels of sensory input are processed to regulate behavior. Different input channels may converge onto common downstream pathways to drive the same behaviors, or they may activate separate pathways to regulate distinct behaviors. We investigated this question in the bitter taste system, which contains diverse bitter-sensing cells residing in different taste organs. First, we optogenetically activated subsets of bitter neurons within each organ. These subsets elicited broad and highly overlapping behavioral effects, suggesting that they converge onto common downstream pathways, but we also observed behavioral differences that argue for biased convergence. Consistent with these results, transsynaptic tracing revealed that bitter neurons in different organs connect to overlapping downstream pathways with biased connectivity. We investigated taste processing in one type of downstream bitter neuron that projects to the higher brain. These neurons integrate input from multiple organs and regulate specific taste-related behaviors. We then traced downstream circuits, providing the first glimpse into taste processing in the higher brain. Together, these results reveal that different bitter inputs are selectively integrated early in the circuit, enabling the pooling of information, while the circuit then diverges into multiple pathways that may have different roles.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Rockefeller University, New York, United States.
ISSN:	2050-084X 2050-084X
DOI:	10.7554/eLife.84856