2. Chemosensory control of locomotion - Taste system

Taste System and Locomotion

We are currently collaborating with the team of Dr. Barbara Zielinski to investigate the innervation of the pharyngeal taste buds of the lamprey and their activation by potential tastants. We are interested in finding whether the activation of taste buds leads to the activation of locomotor or feeding motor networks in the brain. The lamprey model is ideal for investigating the links between taste and the generation of locomotor movements. As of now such interactions have not been described in any other vertebrate species.

Preliminary data show that the taste buds of the lamprey are innervated by the glossopharyngeal and vagus nerve and that the gustatory fibers reach a column of neurons that spans the entire caudal hindbrain in a manner that suggest a high degree of homology with the mammalian Nucleus of the Solitary Tract. We are now investigating the responses of taste buds to different molecules and looking at the locomotor and feeding behaviors that can be elicited.

This research was supported by the Great Lakes Fishery Commision.