Sexual failure decreases sweet taste perception in male <i>Drosophila</i> via dopaminergic signaling.

ABSTRACT: Sweet taste perception, a critical aspect of the initiation of feeding behavior, is primarily regulated by an animal's internal metabolic state. However, non-metabolic factors, such as motivational and emotional states, can also influence peripheral sensory processing and hence feeding behavior. While mating experience is known to induce motivational and emotional changes, its broader impact on other innate behaviors, such as feeding, remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, we demonstrated that the mating failure of male fruit flies suppressed sweet taste perception via dopamine signaling in specific neural circuitry. Upon repetitive failure in courtship, male flies exhibited a sustained yet reversible decline of sweet taste perception, as measured by the proboscis extension reflex

SUBMITTER: Wang G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12286605 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature