Principal Investigator:

Ivan E. De Araujo, DPhil
Assistant Fellow,
John B. Pierce Laboratory

Visiting Research Scientist in
Epidemiology
Yale University School of Medicine

Research Interests

Two major factors influence animals, including humans, to initiate feeding. On one hand, the palatable and flavorful aspects of foods are potent appetite stimulators. In addition, the post-ingestive effects produced by calorie-rich foods can strongly influence long-term food preferences. It has been usually assumed that the main function of brain reward systems in feeding was limited to detecting, via dedicated gustatory pathways, the “hedonic” properties of flavorful foods. However, recent findings indicate that brain reward-dopamine pathways are also sensitive to the post-ingestive effects produced by caloric compounds, even in the absence of functional taste transduction. Our laboratory will focus on describing the biological mechanisms that allow neurons of the mesolimbic dopamine system to “sense” changes in the periphery and thus modulate feeding behavior accordingly. We will also inquire whether brain serotonin systems display a similar sensitivity to post-ingestive factors. In general, we are interested in the interplay between taste receptor activation and hormonal influences in determining whether a long-term acceptance or rejection will develop for a certain food.

Current Projects

Representative Publications