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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #435254
Research Project: Regulatory Aspects of Obesity Development

Location: Children's Nutrition Research Center

Title: Glutamatergic projection neurons in the basal forebrain underlie learned olfactory associational valence assignments

Author
item CHIN, PEY-SHYUAN - Baylor College Of Medicine
item DING, ZHUOKUN - Baylor College Of Medicine
item KOCHUKOV, MIKHAIL - Texas Children'S Hospital
item SRIVASTAVA, SNIGDHA - Texas Children'S Hospital
item MOSS, ELIZABETH - Oregon Health & Science University
item TONG, QINGCHUN - University Of Texas Health Science Center
item ARENKIEL, BENJAMIN - Baylor College Of Medicine

Submitted to: Nature Communications
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/4/2026
Publication Date: 1/16/2026
Citation: Chin, P., Ding, Z., Kochukov, M., Srivastava, S., Moss, E.H., Tong, Q., Arenkiel, B.R. 2026. Glutamatergic projection neurons in the basal forebrain underlie learned olfactory associational valence assignments. Nature Communications. 17. Article 1608. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68313-7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-68313-7

Interpretive Summary: The choices for preference of foods we consume directly impact health. How the brain perceives different types of food as healthy and appealing or unhealthy and/or aversive has remained a mystery. Our perception of healthy vs. unhealthy food is directly gated by our senses such as vision or smell. In this study we identified a group of neurons in the brain that assign sensory cues as being good or bad, which directly influences how we perceive food and our interest level in eating different types of food. This relates to USDA/ARS priorities in that these findings help identify parts of the brain that influence the desire to eat different types and quantities of foods based on prior sensory experience.

Technical Abstract: Sensory perception is shaped by experience, giving stimuli behavioral significance. Basal forebrain (BF) cholinergic neurons in mice, which are crucial for arousal and motivation, also regulate sensory processing. Within BF nuclei, glutamatergic (vGlut2BF) neurons receive cholinergic input and modulate behaviors, but their roles in encoding sensory significance remain unclear. Using in vivo calcium imaging, we found that vGlut2BF neurons initially poorly encoded odor identity. However, their response to conditioned odors increased following associative learning, and their population activity more distinctly encoded paired stimuli, reflecting emergent value representation. Furthermore, pairing stimulation or inhibition of vGlut2BF neurons with specific odors altered odor preferences, suggesting that appropriately timed vGlut2BF neuronal activity is sufficient to influence valence assignment. Our findings reveal that vGlut2BF neurons transform sensory input into motivationally significant stimuli, positioning the BF as a key hub for linking sensory processing with motivational states and experience-driven plasticity.