Contact Information

(267) 519-4780

Paul Breslin

Member

Education

Ph.D., Experimental Psychology; University of Pennsylvania

Research Summary

I am interested in human oral perception and its genetic basis. The primary focus of my work is on taste perception with an emphasis on taste discrimination, taste enhancement and suppression, and taste localization. I also study oral irritation/chemesthesis, mouthfeel, and astringency. The interactions among gustation, chemesthesis, and olfaction that comprise flavor are the topic of an ongoing research program that includes fMRI as a tool to understand regional brain involvement. In addition to human research, I conduct parallel genetic studies of the chemical senses in my Fly Lab, which uses Drosophila melanogaster as a model.

Keywords

taste, psychophysics, behavioral genetics, perceptual genetics, psychogenomics, oral rheometry, functional expression

Recent Publications

Greene, T. A.; Alarcon, S.; Thomas, A.; Berdougo, E.; Doranz, B. J.; Breslin, P. A. S. and Rucker, J. (2011) “Probenecid inhibits the human bitter taste receptor TAS2R16 and suppresses bitter perception of salicin.” PLOS One. 6:e20123.

Wise, P. and Breslin, P. A. S. (2011) “Relationships among taste qualities assessed with response-context effects.” Chemical Senses. 36.7, 581-7.

Ozdener, M. H.; Brand, J. G.; Speilman, F. G.,; Lischka, F. W.; Teeter, J.; Breslin, P. A. S. and Rawson, N. E. (2011) “Characterization of human fungiform papillae cells in culture.” Chemical Senses. 36.7, 601-12.

Peyrot des Gachons, C; Uchida, K.; Bryant, B. P.; Shima, A.; Sperry, J. B.; Dankulich-Nagrudny, L.; Tominaga, M.; Smith, A. B. III; Beauchamp, G. K. and Breslin, P. A. S. (2011) “Unusual pungency from extra-virgin olive oil is attributable to restricted spatial expression of the receptor of oleocanthal.” Journal of Neuroscience. 31.3, 999-1009.

Peyrot des Gachons, C; Beauchamp, G. K.; Stern, R. M.; Koch, K. L. and Breslin, P. A. S. (2011) “Bitter taste induces nausea.” Current Biology. 21, R247-R248.