Affiliations
Member, Monell Chemical Senses Center
Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Rutgers University
Education
Ph.D., Experimental Psychology; University of Pennsylvania
M.A., 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
Representative Publications
Breslin PAS, Izumi A, Tharp A, Ohkuri T, Yokoo Y, Flammer LJ, Rawson NE, and Margolskee RF. (2021). Evidence that human oral glucose detection involves a sweet taste pathway and a glucose transporter pathway. PLoS ONE 16(10): e0256989. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256989
Erik Schwiebert, Yi Wang, Ranhui Xi, Katarzyna Choma, John Streiff, Linda J. Flammer, Natasha Rivers, Mehmet Hakan Ozdener, Robert F. Margolskee, Carol M. Christensen, Nancy E. Rawson, Peihua Jiang and Paul A. S. Breslin. (2021). 6-Methylflavone blocks bitterness of tenofovir. Molecular Pharmacology 99 (5) 319-327; https://doi.org/10.1124/molpharm.120.000071
Breslin, P. (2019). Chemical Senses in Feeding, Belonging, and Surviving: Or, Are You Going to Eat That? Elements in Perception. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108644372
Goren, L., Zhang, G., Kaushik, S., Breslin, P.A.S., Du, Y.N., Foster, D.A. (2019). (-)-Oleocanthal and (-)-oleocanthal-rich olive oils induce lysosomal membrane permeabilization in cancer cells. PLoS One. 14(8):e0216024. PMID: 31412041
Breslin, P.A.S. (2018). The sense of taste encompasses two roles: conscious taste perception and subconscious metabolic responses. In: Think Tank: 45 Curious Neuroscientists Explain the Biological Roots of Human Experience. Linden, D. J. (Sr. Ed.), Andrew Wiley Pub., New York.
Peyrot des Gachons, C., Avrillier, J., Gleason, M., Algarra, L., Zhang, S., Mura, E., Nagai, H., Breslin, P.A.S. (2016). Oral Cooling and Carbonation Increase the Perception of Drinking and Thirst Quenching in Thirsty Adults. PLoS One, 29;11(9):e0162261. PMID: 27685093.
Peyrot des Gachons, C. and Breslin, P.A.S. (2016). Salivary Amylase: Digestion and Metabolic Syndrome. Current Diabetes Reports, 16:102. PMID: 27640169. PMCID: PMC6825871
LeGendre, O., Breslin, P.A.S., Foster, D.A. (2015). (-)-Oleocanthal rapidly and selectively induced cancer cell death via lysosomal membrane permeabilization (LMP). Mol. Cell. Oncology, 2(4):e1006077. PMID: 26380379
Wise, P.M., Breslin, P.A., Dalton, P. (2013). Effect of Taste Sensation on Cough Reflex Sensitivity. Lung. 192: 9-13. PMID: 24173385
Breslin, P.A.S. (2013). An evolutionary perspective on food and human taste. Current Biology, 23, R409-R418. [Cover Article]. PMID: 23660364
Related Links
Director, Monell Science Apprenticeship Program
