By A Edmondson-Stait
May’s neuron of the month is an ascending neuron relaying information from the subesophageal zone (SEZ) to the superior medial protocerebrum (SMP). The SEZ receives gustatory input from gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs). Axonal projections from GRNs conveying bitter or sweet taste are spatially segregated in the SEZ. The SMP is a higher processing area where different streams of sensory information meet neurons involved in learning and memory. Our neuron may be projecting information about sweet taste to higher brain regions involved in learning and memory.
Neuron shown as it was reconstructed.