Elucidate the Brain Neuronmodulation of aversive reactions through feeding behavior

陳庭振 1, 張夆昌 1, 高智飛 1

1Name of your institution, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University

Feeding is a basic behavior for almost all organisms that is modulated by the nervous system to ingest nutritious foods and satisfy the hunger desire. To evaluate food quality or avoid harmful foods, the nervous system receives cues from the sensory neurons to make feeding decisions. Both the environmental factors and food qualities, such the temperature differences and the preferences of foods, may affect the reactions of neural circuits and change the feeding behaviors. Recent studies have revealed aversive tastes involve distinct sensory receptors and neural circuits in Drosophila. However, what are major changes of feeding behaviors and their potential reactions (like feelings and emotions) when the starved fruit flies are forced to have the aversive food remain to be discovered. Here we use the FlyPad, an automated recording device to assess and quantify different aspects of feeding behaviors from individual flies, focusing on the aversion-elicited responses in Drosophila.