Yang Tan Collective, Brain-Body Center Seminar: Sung-Yon Kim, Seoul National University
Building 46, Singleton, 43 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 Time: 3:00 – 4:00 pm Location: Building 46, Singleton Auditorium Talk Title: How does drinking rapidly quench thirst? Abstract: Drinking quenches thirst within seconds, long before ingested water can restore systemic fluid balance, but the sensory origin and neural mechanisms underlying this rapid feedback have remained unclear. We identify pharyngeal mechanosensation generated during swallowing as a key sensory signal for rapid thirst satiation. This signal depends primarily on PIEZO2 in pharynx-projecting sensory neurons and ascends through the NTS and Pdyn+ parabrachial neurons to Glp1r+ MnPO neurons, ultimately suppressing SFO thirst neurons and terminating ongoing drinking. Notably, this pathway does not simply relay every swallow. Instead, it implements rate-dependent filtering that preferentially transmits rapidly repeated, drinking-paced swallows while excluding slower patterns associated with eating. Together, these findings define a pharynx-to-forebrain circuit that transforms swallowing-related mechanical signals into rapid, drinking-specific homeostatic feedback.