The University of Tennessee Health Science Center
09/25/2025 | News release | Distributed by Public on 09/25/2025 11:16
Seminar TODAY SEPT 25! “The Neural Organization of Food Neophobia” by Dr. John Boughter, Professor and Associate Director, Neuroscience
The Department of Physiology Seminar Series continues weekly on Thursdays! Please Join Us!
This week are are very pleased to welcome
John D. Boughter Jr., PhD
Professor, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology
Associate Director, Neuroscience Institute
Vice Chair of Education
Dr. Boughter will present his seminar titled "The Neural Organization of Food Neophobia" TODAY! Thursday, September 25, 2025 from 3:30 to 5:00 pm in the Cancer Research Building Auditorium, Room 114. Refreshments will be provided.
Summary:
The innate reluctance to consume unfamiliar foods, known as food or taste neophobia, is a behavior critical for survival in animals. Taste neophobia has important consequences for dietary choice and health in humans and is related to avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Unfortunately, little is known about the neural basis of food neophobia. We are using a rodent model to uncover mechanisms underlying neophobia, including behavioral, neuroanatomical, and neural imaging approaches. Our data indicates food neophobia is primarily organized in the insular cortex. Neural imaging via head-mounted microendoscopes demonstrates how the activity of cortical neural populations evolves during neophobia learning, reflecting the change in behavior.
Share this:
- Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
- Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
- Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
- Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
- Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
Related
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center published this content on September 25, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 25, 2025 at 17:16 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]