Central role for the insular cortex in mediating conditioned responses to anticipatory cues.

ABSTRACT: Reward-related circuits are fundamental for initiating feeding on the basis of food-predicting cues, whereas gustatory circuits are believed to be involved in the evaluation of food during consumption. However, accumulating evidence challenges such a rigid separation. The insular cortex (IC), an area largely studied in rodents for its role in taste processing, is involved in representing anticipatory cues. Although IC responses to anticipatory cues are well established, the role of IC cue-related activity in mediating feeding behaviors is poorly understood. Here, we examined the involvement of the IC in the expression of cue-triggered food approach in mice trained with a Pavlovian conditioning paradigm. We observed a significant change in neuronal firing during presentation of the cue. Pha

SUBMITTER: Kusumoto-Yoshida I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4313852 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature