Michael Tordoff

Member

Education

Ph.D., Physiological Psychology; University of California, Los Angeles

Research Summary

My research interests are broadly focused on taste and nutrition. One area involves topics related to mineral appetite, including calcium taste and appetite, the physiology of salt intake, appetite specificity, and how the postingestive consequences of minerals influence taste preferences. Another area involves the genetics of taste perception, including the preferences for alcohol, sweetness, saltiness and calcium. A third area involves characterizing the environmental contribution to individual differences, particularly the influences of early environment, husbandry procedures, and food choice on taste preferences and dietary obesity.

Keywords

specific appetite, calcium, taste genetics, ingestive behavior, obesity

Recent Publications

Cherukuri, C. M.; McCaughey, S. A. and Tordoff, M. G. (2011) “Comparison of differences between PWD/PhJ and C57BL/6J mice in calcium solution preferences and chorda tympani nerve responses.” Physiology & Behavior. 102, 496-502.

Tordoff, M. G. (2010) “Taste solution consumption by FHH-Chr nBN consomic rats.” Chemical Senses. 35, 473-489.

Bachmanov, A. A.; Inoue, M.; Ji, H.; Murata, Y.; Tordoff, M. G. and Beauchamp, G. K. (2009) “Glutamate taste and appetite in laboratory mice: physiologic and genetic analyses.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 90.3, 756S-63S.

De Jonghe, B. C.; Lawler, M. P.; Horn, C. C. and Tordoff, M. G. (2009) “Pica as an adaptive response: Kaolin consumption helps rats recover from chemotherapy-induced illness.” Physiology & Behavior. 97.1, 87-90.

Tordoff, M. G. and Sandell, M. A. (2009) “Vegetable bitterness is related to calcium content.” Appetite. 52.2, 498-504.

Guenthner, C. J.; McCaughey, S. A.; Tordoff, M. G. and Baird, J. P. (2008) “Licking for taste solutions by potassium-deprived rats: Specificity and mechanisms.” BMC Genetics. 93, 937-46.

Reed, D. R.; Lawler, M. P. and Tordoff, M. G. (2008) “Reduced body weight is a common effect of gene knockout.” BMC Genetics. 9.4.

Tordoff, M. G.; Shao, H.; Alarcón, L. K.; Margolskee, R. F.; Mosinger, B.; Bachmanov, A. A.; Reed, D. R. and McCaughey, S. A. (2008) “Involvement of T1R3 in calcium-magnesium taste.” Physiological Genomics. 34.3, 338-48.

Tordoff, M. G. (2008) “Gene discovery and the genetic basis of calcium consumption.” Physiology & Behavior. 94, 649-59.

Lab Staff

Postdoctoral fellows
Michelle Murphy
Anna Voznesenskaya
 
Technicians
Laura Alarcón
Hillary Ellis
Matt Rosazza
Sitaram Valmeki
Tiffany Weiss
Ryan Crawford