Research
Our research explores the neural mechanisms that drive decision-making in eating behaviors and dietary choices. The experience of consuming food and beverages is shaped by the initial sensations they evoke, which arise in the mouth through the integration of gustatory, olfactory, and somatosensory signals into a unified percept known as flavor. How does the brain extract both sensory and rewarding information from the food we consume? How does it use this information to guide eating decisions? What specific brain regions and neural connections are involved in this process?
By addressing these questions, we seek to advance our understanding of how the brain regulates food consumption and feeding behaviors, both of which are crucial for understanding eating disorders. Our lab focuses on studying the neural circuits and computational processes of brain regions involved in processing sensory and reward-related information from food and beverages, including the insular (gustatory) and olfactory cortices and other subcortical areas.
1) Understanding how cortical (gustatory cortex; GC) and thalamic (gustatory and limbic thalami) areas encode sensory information when animals actively experience taste stimuli.
2) Investigating the neural computations that integrate thermal and chemosensory food-related stimuli, with a particular focus on how temperature influences taste perception.
3) Collaborating with Dr. Adam Dewan’s lab to explore the neural coding and processing mechanisms used by olfactory cortical areas.
To achieve these goals, we employ cutting-edge experimental techniques, including behavioral training, anatomical and genetic targeting of specific neural populations, multi-electrode and optical imaging recordings of neural activity in awake animals, and opto- and chemogenetic manipulation of brain function.
