The Research Workshop at CNW15 was “Taste Signaling: Impact on Food Selection, Intake, and Health.” On Saturday, February 14, A.S.P.E.N. brought together 6 experts and a room full of attendees for a full day of presentations and energetic scientific exchange.
The Research Workshop provided key knowledge to help attendees understand the complex mechanisms by which the taste properties of food interact with need-state, post-ingestive events, and prior experience to determine what and how much food is consumed. The speakers provided new findings on the features of neural circuits between the caudal nucleus of the solitary tract, receiving visceral input from the vagus nerve, and the rostral NST, receiving taste input.
Alan C. Spector, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychology and
Program in Neuroscience, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, and Julie
Mennella, PhD, Member, Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, served as course directors. They assembled an exemplary group of internationally recognized researchers to provide the state-of-the-science and discuss crucial next steps in research.
Dr. Spector welcomed the participants to the event, provided opening remarks, and gave a course overview. He presented background information and provided the group with the overall goals of this year’s Research Workshop.
The opening remarks were followed by presentations by 6 researchers who provided the latest information on their specific research areas relating to taste signaling.
The first speaker was Carel le Roux, MBChB, MSC, MRCP, FRCPath, PhD, Head of Pathology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. Dr. le Roux discussed bariatric surgery and how resulting anatomical and physiological changes interact to affect long-term food intake.
Next, a presentation by Dr. Spector described how neurobiological processes are linked to taste function in animal models. By describing the gustatory system, Dr. Spector demonstrated how experimental manipulations on taste function may be assessed in animal models.
The next speaker was Steven D. Munger, PhD, Professor and Vice-Chair, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Dr. Munger described the molecular basis of taste, including the function of extraoral taste receptors in the gut.
Next, Anthony Sclafani, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Psychology, Director of the Feeding Behavior and Nutrition Laboratory, Brooklyn College, City University of New York, New York, NY, described the role of gut nutrient sensing in determining food appetite and preferences.
“Neural Interactions Integrating Taste and Visceral Signals and Influence on Feeding Behavior” was the title of the presentation by Susan Travers, PhD, Professor, Section of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Participants learned about the basic types of taste fibers innervating the oral cavity and visceral afferent fibers innervating the gut.
Dr. Mennella presented information on differences in the sensory worlds of adults and children, and how a child’s inborn taste responses make them vulnerable to the current food environment.
Dr. Spector ended the day with a synthesis of the workshop’s presentations. After an exciting and informative day, the attendees learned about the basic mechanisms underlying taste sensing in the oral cavity and how these mechanisms interact with gastrointestinal signals to impact neural process involved in feeding. Information on bariatric surgical procedures and their impact on taste, feeding, and weight loss was also a predominant feature of the day. Finally, the importance of the biological basis of food acceptance during infancy and childhood was discussed. The 2015 Research Workshop emphasized the state-of-the-science in taste signaling, providing attendees with important and useful information that will help to move this crucial scientific field forward.
