Gut-brain circuits for fat preference.

The perception of fat evokes strong appetitive and consummatory responses. Here we show that fat stimuli can induce behavioural attraction even in the absence of a functional taste system. We demonstrate that fat acts after ingestion via the gut-brain axis to drive preference for fat.

The gut-brain axis mediates sugar preference.

The taste of sugar is one of the most basic sensory percepts for humans and other animals. Animals can develop a strong preference for sugar even if they lack sweet taste receptors, indicating a mechanism independent of taste. Here we examined the neural basis for sugar preference and demonstrate that a population of neurons in the vagal ganglia and brainstem are activated via the gut-brain axis to create preference for sugar.