The award, the Maxwell M. Mozell Award for Achievement in the Chemical Senses, was presented at the group’s 25th anniversary meeting earlier this spring.

Bradley was honored for his research contributions that seek to understand how neural connections for taste sensation are formed and how taste neurons in the brain function. Using animal models, Bradley has developed techniques to record taste neurons in a rodent’s brainstem to learn more about how the brain processes neurotransmissions focusing on taste.

Combining pharmacology and neurophysiology, Bradley’s laboratory has made new discoveries about the nature of the interactions between neurons to form synapses and pathways for taste sensation. His lab has been using infrared videomicroscopy to study special sets of neurons that regulate salivary secretion under stimulus control from the taste system.

Bradley’s work on the taste system highlights the major sensory system of the oral cavity, specifically, the sense of taste which is crucial in directing nutrient intake, rejecting poisons, and providing quality of life pleasures associated with the social- and life-sustaining function of eating.

His laboratory is also working to develop a neural implant to make long-term recordings from single sensory fibers that innervate the tongue. The implant consists of a sieve-like array of small holes which are surrounded by electrodes. The electrodes are connected to recording equipment that allow recordings to be made from one sensory fiber to determine how taste buds react to changing conditions in the mouth over an extended period of time.

The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction prepare future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide.

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