Thomas R. Scott - US grants

Feeding is largely guided by the sense of taste. it is now established that this influence is reciprocal: taste sensitivity is, to some degree dependent upon what has been eaten. This conclusion rests on the recognition of three emerging facts: (1) Taste-evoked activity is primarily devoted to encoding stimulus nutrition vs toxicity, a measure which parallels acceptance vs rejection behavior in rats and positive vs negative appreciation in humans. Thus, taste input carries information on the physiological value of a potential food, and it is on the basis of this information that feeding and the pleasure derived from it are determined. (2) Taste-evoked activity, in turn, is subject to modification according to the past experience or the momentary physiological needs of the organism. Thus, biochemical needs can influence the very taste input which guides feeding. The reciprocal interaction between taste and physiological condition presents a likely neural mechanism for the notion of body widsom. (3) This interaction takes place largely at the hindbrain level. The anatomical convergence through which such an interplay could function occurs in the hindbrain. Organisms with only the caudal brainstem intact respond appropriately to the nutritional vs toxicity dimension of taste, and change that reaction to meet many of the transient needs of the body. Several endogenous chemicals which affect feeding behavior have recently been identified. There is a widespread recognition that sensory influences, particularly those of taste, may be involved in mediating their actions. The aim of this proposed series of studies is to test that assumption directly. Taste-evoked responses will be recorded from single cells in the rat nucleus tractus solitarius before and after intravenous administration of each of six chemical factors which have been shown to influence feeding. If no changes in gustatory responsiveness occur with the manipulation, taste will be eliminated as a possible mechanism through which these substances might alter intake. More likely, taste activity will be affected. Such a finding would bear on two issues: (1) It would provide a specific mechanism through which the administered satiety factor might work and also strengthen the general notion of sensory-ingestive integration in the hindbrain. (2) It would address controversies of neural coding in taste, particularly the existence of gustatory neuron types.

This proposal describes a plan to develop, evaluate, distribute and maintain a web-based, interactive, IRB protocol application development and submission software program. The immediate outcome is an electronically guided program to assist the principal investigator in developing and submitting a complete research protocol. The proposed software will guide the investigator through the protocol development process with programming that incorporates ethical principles/practices, regulatory reference, guidance and institutional standards. It is expected that the resulting human subjects protocol will adequately describe methodology and procedures that reflect an ethically considerate and sound research design conducive to substantive review by the IRB. Receiving current information during the protocol development process will assist the investigator in developing an awareness of how ethical principles relate to his/her specific research. Administratively, the automated system will eventually replace the present system, which combines both electronic and manual procedures. Although the current manual system is functional, significant clerical and administrative time is dedicated to procedures that could be automated and result in improved accuracy and efficiency of the IRB review process. Time saved through automated administrative functions will be redirected to enhance programs intended to promote protection of research subjects (e.g., education/training, proactive site visits, etc.) By automating the protocol development and submission process, all stakeholders (e.g., research participants, investigators, IRB, and the institution) will ultimately benefit from the increased quality, performance and efficiency of SDSU's human subject's program. The proposed software will incorporate an existing IRB database and access data used to verify compliance with human subjects education requirements. Specific fields within the database will be accessible to other academic and administrative units that require verification of human subjects approval. Once developed and tested, the electronic program will be disseminated to the other 22 California State University campuses and made available to institutions nationally to support their human subjects program operations.