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Athens, Ga. – New research from the University of Georgia has identified the neural pathways in an insect brain tied to eating for pleasure, a discovery that sheds light on mirror impulsive eating pathways in the human brain.

"We know when insects are hungry, they eat more, become aggressive and are willing to do more work to get the food," said Ping Shen, a UGA associate professor of cellular biology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "Little is known about the other half—the reward-driven feeding behavior—when the animal is not so hungry but they still get excited about food when they smell something great.

The fact that a relatively lower animal, a fly larva, actually does this impulsive feeding based on a rewarding cue was a surprise."

The research team led by Shen, who also is a member of the Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute, found that presenting fed fruit fly larvae with appetizing odors caused impulsive feeding of sugar-rich foods. The findings, published Feb. 28 in Cell Press, suggest eating for pleasure is an ancient behavior and that fly larvae can be used in studying neurobiology and the evolution of olfactory reward-driven impulses.

Source: Science Codex

by UGA News Service

Ten University students and alumni received graduate research fellowships this spring from the National Science Foundation to conduct research during their master’s and doctoral studies. The NSF fellowships are among the most sought-after in the United States. The awards provide students with up to $126,000 during a five-year period for research in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Sixteen students and alumni also received honorable mentions.

This year’s Fellows are listed below in alphabetical order by unit.

College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Athens native Christine Akoh will graduate this spring with a bachelor of science in agriculture in food science. After graduation, she will pursue a doctorate in human nutrition at Cornell University. Akoh is a 2010 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship recipient and a member of the UGA Honors Program. Her project seeks to increase the amount of bioavailable iron normally consumed by pregnant women to improve their iron absorption....

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Text-only transcript: www.caes.uga.edu Study Food Science: students.caes.uga.edu Study Poultry Science: students.caes.uga.edu Steven Lyon’s degrees in poultry science and food science prepared him for a career in food and product safety at Chick-Fil-A. Graduates from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at UGA have many job opportunities in the state of Georgia and throughout the US —- Steven Lyon Descriptive Text for Video [ Music ] The scene opens with a close-up of a Chick-fil-A store sign; the marquee reads “40 Years, still the best chicken in town”. The scene changes to a vehicle driving towards the drive-thru lane. The scene changes to Steven Lyon seated in a replica (ie model) of the original restaurant. Behind him on a shelf are news articles about Chick-fil-A and a plaque of their logo. Steven is talking about his role at Chick-fil-A working with product safety. The image changes to a photograph of Steven sitting in his office and reviewing paperwork; next he is working at his computer. The video returns to Steven sitting in the replica of the original restaurant talking about his job. Suddenly someone dressed in the Chick-fil-A cow costume enters the scene and pats Steven on the back. Steven laughs. He smiles, greets the “cow” and asks if he can talk to him later that day. Steven returns to talking about his work. The image changes to a photo of Steven working at his computer, then the video returns to Steven talking about his job. The video …

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