Presentation Details
| Taste experience during a postnatal sensitive window modifies preference and response to novelty Michelle Layana, Hillary C Schiff. Division of Biosciences, College of Dentistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA |
Abstract
Postnatal refinement of sensory cortical circuits contributes to perception, decision-making, and cognition, and these processes are modulated by sensory experience. We previously reported that taste experience at weaning influences sweet preference and cortical inhibition in gustatory cortex (GC), the primary sensory region for taste (Schiff et al, 2023), consistent with human studies linking early taste experience to persistent effects on taste preference (e.g. Mennella et al, 2011). Here we find that just 4 days of exposure to Ensure (as opposed to 8) is sufficient to enhance sucrose preference tested at P56 compared to mice exposed only to water. Mice received Ensure for 1 hour/day for 4 days at P25-28 (water n=8, Ensure n=11 mice; F(4,125)=4.53, p<0.01, F-test); the effect remained whether mice were tested under water restriction or sated conditions. Ongoing studies are assessing Ensure exposure from P22-25. Taste preference influences consumption of nourishing food and avoidance of dangerous substances. To avoid danger, rodents display neophobia, characterized by an initial aversion to new substances, which attenuates after repeated exposures. We report that early Ensure exposure (P22-25) accelerates attenuation of neophobia for saccharin when tested at P56 compared to mice exposed only to water. These findings extend the importance of early life taste experience beyond sucrose preference to responses to novel tastes. Ongoing studies will assess the neural circuit mechanisms recruited by early life exposure to Ensure.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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