Editor-in-Chief’s Comments | The First Complete Neural Map of Animal Taste Mechanisms Has Been Created
2026-09-07 08:00Models🔥 42.2 heat score
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SummaryAI generated
An international team led by the Portuguese Fundação Campolim published two studies in the journal *Cell*, in which they for the first time fully mapped the connections between 166,700 neurons in the central nervous system of Drosophila. The study identified over 11,000 different cell types and used AI to predict the excitation or inhibition relationships between neurons, revealing the complete pathway of taste signals from sensory neurons throughout the body to motor neurons. It was found that taste receptors are distributed in various parts of the body, such as the legs and wings, and similar “value” signals converge in the deep circuits of the brain to retain location information; 24 types of eating motor neuron circuits often activate after inhibition, preventing the ingestion of harmful substances. Additionally, the map for the first time demonstrated the precise connection between taste and hormonal responses, explaining why zero-calorie sweeteners trigger insulin release.
Scientists have for the first time mapped out the entire neural network behind animals' decision-making processes related to eating. An international team led by the Fundação São Paulo in Portugal published two studies in the journal *Cell*, which comprehensively mapped the connections of 166,700 neurons in the central nervous system of fruit flies and tracked the entire pathway of taste signals from sensory neurons throughout the body to motor neurons. The study identified over 11,000 different cell types, used AI to predict excitation or inhibition relationships between neurons, and revealed the mechanisms by which taste drives eating, avoidance, and hormone release. It was found that taste receptors are distributed in various parts of the body, such as legs and wings, and similar “value” signals converge in deep brain circuits to retain location information; 24 circuits of eating motor neurons typically activate after inhibition, preventing the ingestion of harmful substances. Additionally, the map for the first time demonstrated the precise connection between taste and hormonal responses, explaining why zero-calorie sweeteners trigger insulin release. Fruit flies, as living models with complex behaviors and similar neural signaling mechanisms to humans, provide insights into understanding how the human brain functions.