Neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography have made it possible to study brain representation of sensation, motivation and cognition in humans. The primary interest of my lab is to use these techniques in conjunction with psychophysics and behavioral testing to uncover brain substrates of taste, smell, flavor, and food reward. We are particularly interested in multisensory integration of taste and smell as well as in understanding how sensory processing interacts with behavioral choices such as decisions to eat or stop eating in healthy individuals and in people with eating disorders. A new research aim is to examine similarities and differences in the neural representation of food and drug reward to answer questions such as how nicotine addiction may influence the ability of food odors to induce eating. We currently have a fully automated and fMRI compatible olfactometer and gustometer and are using these devices to study taste, smell, and food reward in the 3 Tesla Magnet at the Yale MR Imaging Research Center.

Small, D.M., Voss, J., Mak, Y.E., Simmons, K.B., Parrish, T.B., and Gitelman, D.R. (2004). Experience-dependent neural integration of taste and smell in the human brain. J. Neurophysiol. 92:1892-1903.

Small, D.M., Gregory, M.D., Mak, Y.E., Gitelman, D.R., Mesulam, M.M., and Parrish, T.B. (2003). Dissociation of neural representation of intensity and affective valuation in human gustation. Neuron 39:701-711.

Small, D.M., Jones-Gotman, M., and Dagher, A. (2003). Feeding-induced dopamine release in dorsal striatum correlates with meal pleasantness ratings in healthy human volunteers. Neuroimage 19:1709-1715