Gustatory cortex neurons perform reliability-dependent integration of multisensory flavor inputs.

Flavor is the quintessential multisensory experience, combining gustatory, retronasal olfactory, and texture qualities to inform food perception and consumption behavior. However, the computations that govern multisensory integration of flavor components and their underlying neural mechanisms remain elusive. Here, we use rats as a model system to test the hypothesis that taste and smell components of flavor are integrated in a reliability-dependent manner to inform hedonic judgments and that this computation is performed by neurons in the primary taste cortex.

The effect of multisensory context and experience on flavor preference decisions in rats.

Flavor is perceived through multiple senses, including gustation and olfaction. Previous studies have shown that different sensory qualities that make up flavor are integrated to inform perceptual judgements. Psychophysical work in humans further suggests a prominent role for congruency (i.

The Natural Products Atlas: An Open Access Knowledge Base for Microbial Natural Products Discovery.

Despite rapid evolution in the area of microbial natural products chemistry, there is currently no open access database containing all microbially produced natural product structures. Lack of availability of these data is preventing the implementation of new technologies in natural products science. Specifically, development of new computational strategies for compound characterization and identification are being hampered by the lack of a comprehensive database of known compounds against which to compare experimental data.