Learning-Associated Flexibility of Cortical Taste Coding Is Impaired in Shank3 Knockout Mice.

ABSTRACT: The ability to update the valence of sensory perception to influence behavior is crucial for survival. A common phenotype in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is defects in sensory processing, but whether these defects impair flexible sensory encoding is largely unexplored. In particular, how genetic risk factors such as Shank3 deletion affect the adaptability of cortical taste processing and downstream behavior is unknown. To address this gap, we performed two-photon calcium imaging during a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) learning paradigm, an ethologically relevant form of associative learning that depends on taste processing in the anterior insular cortex (AIC), to examine how Shank3 knockout alters taste-related neuronal activity in AIC and influences CTA learning. We found tha

SUBMITTER: Wu CH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12393528 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature