How the fly brain reacts to taste

They also refuse foods with a bitter taste. However, little is known about how sweet and bitter tastes are represented by brain circuits that link sensations with behaviour.

The results may have shown why flies know to avoid a part of the food that is rotten, poisonous.

In a new study published in the journal Current Biology, Brown University scientists describe how they developed a new imaging technique. They then used it to map fruit flies' neural activity in response to sweet and bitter tastes.

"These results suggest that the way the fly brain encodes food flavors is more complex than we anticipated," said study author Nathaniel Snell . The study involved Gilad Barnea, a professor of neuroscience at Brown's Warren Alpert School of Medicine and director of the Center for Cell and Circuit Neurobiology at Carney University's Brain Science Institute.

The team learned more about the brain processes that govern the fly's response to taste. They have developed a new imaging technique called 'trans-Tango' (working) .

This is an adaptation of trans-Tango, a versatile technology invented by Barnea labs used to monitor neural circuits in the brain. Thereby, taking understanding to a new level by revealing how specific neurons in the circuit respond to stimuli.

The brain's response to stimuli is like a transition, explains Barnea . The 'stick ' passes from one neuron to the next, then to the next,.

'Trans-Tango' (active) allows us to selectively look at second-order neurons in the circuit. So we were able to focus on how flies respond to sweet and bitter tastes . "

Some of the results may suggest why flies know to avoid a part of the food that is rotten or poisonous. According to the team, the second-order neurons respond to bitterness even after they have been removed.

'For example, understanding what drives olfactory behaviors in mosquitoes is important in learning how to reduce their influence on humans. Our study can add a small piece of the puzzle to that big question," said researcher Barnea.