Overall Research Project Description Deficits in smell and taste are associated with healthy aging, as well as numerous neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). However, how these changes occur, particularly with respect to taste, remains largely unexplored. We use the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model. We previously found that aging impairs taste response to sugars, but not fatty acids, revealing modality-specific deficits in taste. This decline in sugar taste response is associated with changes in gene expression within the neurons that are activated by sugars. Students joining this project will confirm these findings using quantification of gene expression, behavioral assays, and statistical analysis, with the ultimate goal of characterizing novel candidate gene(s) that function in these sensory neurons during aging.