benzotaste.com

How do anti-anxiety
drugs change the
taste
of food?

Valium, Xanax, Paxal, and Librium are commonly prescribed benzodiazepine drugs.




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Did you know that the drugs used to treat anxiety may also make some foods appear to be more tasty & some people who take these drugs gain weight?

Professors Pittman & Baird are conducting a collaborative research project to examine the effect of anti-anxiety drugs called benzodiazepines on food palatability.

David Pittman, Ph.D.
Wofford College

John-Paul Baird, Ph.D.
Amherst College

SUMMARY OF OUR RESEARCH GOALS:

1. Understanding the influence of benzodiazepines on food palatability.  Each year over 6 million people are diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and it is estimated that over 50% or over 3 million people are currently prescribed benzodiazepines for the treatment of anxiety.  Weight gain is listed as a side-effect of benzodiazepines and laboratory research has shown that benzodiazepines produce hyperphagia (over-eating) in rats possibly due to an increase in the palatability of food.   Understanding the mechanisms that might underlie this weight gain in a rat animal model could aid in the prevention of the prevalence of weight gain in people prescribed benzodiazepines.

2. Understanding the role of GABA and the hindbrain in processing afferent gustatory neural signals.  Benzodiazepines modulate the activity of receptors for the brain neurochemical known as “GABA”. Research has shown that experience and benzodiazepines can change the hedonic value (pleasantness) of taste stimuli.  The parabrachial nucleus (PBN) in the hindbrain represents an ideal location for this interaction to occur because it receives both afferent visceral and taste neural signals, as well as input from forebrain structures that process hedonic value.  Our research seeks to understand the role of the GABA inhibitory neurotransmitter in modifying afferent taste signals in this hindbrain nucleus.

3. Training tomorrow's scientists.  Both Wofford and Amherst colleges provide superb liberal arts educations.  Professors Pittman and Baird are providing opportunities at these institutions for undergraduate students to gain high-quality scientific training in a variety of behavioral and neurophysiological methodologies.  The experience of working on a project in the Pittman or Baird laboratory can prepare students to effectively transition into top-notch Ph.D. graduate programs with meticulous data collection and advanced data analysis skills, the ability to comprehend and assimilate primary research literature, and the skills to effectively present research at conferences and write research publications.  As documented on our people in the lab page, our students enjoy success in a variety of scientific, medical, and health-profession graduate programs.

CURRENT PROJECTS IN THE LAB:

We have just received a grant from the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health to fund our collaborative research project.

Students in Dr. Pittman's laboratory are examining the effect of benzodiazepines on the licking responses of rats during long-term testing in the AC-108 lickometer and during brief-access testing in the MS-160 lickometer.

Dr. Pittman is finishing a study measuring the effect of benzodiazepines on taste neural responses in the peripheral chorda tympani nerve in rats.

Dr. Baird is finishing a study measuring the effect of benzodiazepines on taste neural responses in the brainstem parabrachial nucleus (PBN).

     

Visit Dr. Pittman's Web Site 

  Visit Dr. Baird's Web Site

Site hosted by the laboratory of Dr. Dave Pittman
Associate Professor of Psychology, Wofford College
429 N. Church Street, Spartanburg, SC  29303

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R15DC012195. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.