Pinky Kain Lab

Taste is an essential sensory modality that animals use to evaluate palatability and nutritional content of food sources. By extension, taste may further regulate fundamental processes such as reproduction. We are using the well-established genetic model system Drosophila melanogaster to systematically study the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which specific neural circuits underlie modulation of taste function and orchestrate observable taste driven behaviors. In particular, by using Drosophila melanogaster, we are trying to understand how insects make feeding decisions and how the taste information is wired in the brain. This involves identifying unknown neuronal taste circuits in the brain, physiological state and factors that act on the taste cells and circuits, and modulation of taste behavior.