PLASTICITY OF GUSTATORY CORTEX LAYER 5 PYRAMIDAL NEURONS FOLLOWING A NOVEL GUSTATORY EXPERIENCE

The gustatory cortex (GC) plays a central role in identifying food qualities, assigning hedonic value, avoiding toxins, and regulating feeding behavior. Despite its importance, our knowledge of how neuronal circuits process gustatory information remains incomplete, especially compared to other sensory modalities.
In this study, we employ a combination of slice electrophysiology and optogenetics to characterize the morphology and electrophysiological properties of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the GC, together with their synaptic inputs from the gustatory thalamus (which provides information regarding tastant identity) and the basolateral amygdala (which provides information regarding palatability). Further, we employ activity reporters to examine experience-dependent plasticity of GC layer 5 pyramidal neurons following exposure to a novel tastant. We aim at elucidating the cellular and circuit mechanisms underlying the formation of safe taste memories during the transition from novel to familiar taste experiences.