Multisensory Flavor Perception: From Fundamental Neuroscience Through to the Marketplace provides state-of-the-art coverage of the latest insights from the rapidly-expanding world of multisensory flavor research. The book highlights the various types of crossmodal interactions, such as sound and taste, and vision and taste, showing their impact on sensory and hedonic perception, along with their consumption in the context of food and drink. The chapters in this edited volume review the existing literature, also explaining the underlying neural and psychological mechanisms which lead to crossmodal perception of flavor. The book brings together research which has not been presented before, making it the first book in the market to cover the literature of multisensory flavor perception by incorporating the latest in psychophysics and neuroscience. - Authored by top academics and world leaders in the field - Takes readers on a journey from the neurological underpinnings of multisensory flavor perception, then presenting insights that can be used by food companies to create better flavor sensations for consumers - Offers a wide perspective on multisensory flavor perception, an area of rapidly expanding knowledge

This book will cover all aspects of flavour perception, including aroma, taste and the role of the trigeminal nerve, from the general composition of food to the perception at the peri-receptor and central level. This book will answer to a growing need for multidisciplinary approaches to better understand the mechanisms involved in flavour perception. The book presents the bases of anatomy of sensory perception. It will provide the requisite basic knowledge on the molecules responsible for flavour perception, on their release from the food matrix during the eating process in order to reach the chemosensory receptors, and on their retention and release from and transformation by bodily fluids of the oral and nasal cavities. It will also bring current knowledge on the multimodal interactions. This book will also cover the recent evolution in flavour science: characterisation of molecules, interaction with food matrix and more recently, physic-chemical and physiological and events during oral processing increasingly considered.

Unlike other human senses, the exact mechanisms that lead to our perception of flavor have not yet been elucidated. It is recognised that the process involves a wide range of stimuli, which are thought likely to interact in a complex way, but, since the chemical compounds and physical structures that activate the flavor sensors change as the food is eaten, measurements of the changes in stimuli with time are essential to an understanding of the relationship between stimuli and perception. It is clear that we need to consider the whole process - the release of flavor chemicals in the mouth, the transport processes to the receptors, the specificity and characteristics of the receptors, the transduction mechanisms and the subsequent processing of signals locally and at higher centres in the brain. This book provides a state-of-the-art review of our current understanding of the key stages of flavor perception for those working in the flavor field, whether in the academic or industrial sector. In particular, it is directed at food scientists and technologists, ingredients suppliers and sensory scientists.

Flavour is a critical aspect of food production and processing, requiring careful design, monitoring and testing in order to create an appealing food product. This book looks at flavour generation, flavour analysis and sensory perception of food flavour and how these techniques can be used in the food industry to create new and improve existing products. Part one covers established and emerging methods of characterising and analysing taste and aroma compounds. Part two looks at different factors in the generation of aroma. Finally, part three focuses on sensory analysis of food flavour. - Covers the analysis and characterisation of aromas and taste compounds - Examines how aromas can be created and predicted - Reviews how different flavours are perceived

Flavor: From Food to Behaviors, Wellbeing and Health, Second Edition presents the different mechanisms of flavor perception. Broken into four parts, the first begins with coverage of flavor release in humans. Part two addresses flavor perception, from molecules to receptors and brain integration. Part three analyzes flavor perception, preferences and food intake. Finally, part four considers flavor perception and physiological status. Academics working in the areas of sensory science, food quality, nutrition and human sciences, as well as research and development professionals and nutritionists, will benefit from this important revised reference. - Addresses the link between flavor perception and human behaviors, specifically human physiology in relation to perception - Presents opportunities for the reformulation of healthy foods while maintaining the acceptability by consumers - Explains how flavor compounds may modulate food intake and behavior - Assesses the influence of age, physiological disorders, or social environments on the impact of food flavor

It has become accepted in the neuroscience community that perception and performance are quintessentially multisensory by nature. Using the full palette of modern brain imaging and neuroscience methods, The Neural Bases of Multisensory Processes details current understanding in the neural bases for these phenomena as studied across species, stages of development, and clinical statuses. Organized thematically into nine sub-sections, the book is a collection of contributions by leading scientists in the field. Chapters build generally from basic to applied, allowing readers to ascertain how fundamental science informs the clinical and applied sciences. Topics discussed include: Anatomy, essential for understanding the neural substrates of multisensory processing Neurophysiological bases and how multisensory stimuli can dramatically change the encoding processes for sensory information Combinatorial principles and modeling, focusing on efforts to gain a better mechanistic handle on multisensory operations and their network dynamics Development and plasticity Clinical manifestations and how perception and action are affected by altered sensory experience Attention and spatial representations The last sections of the book focus on naturalistic multisensory processes in three separate contexts: motion signals, multisensory contributions to the perception and generation of communication signals, and how the perception of flavor is generated. The text provides a solid introduction for newcomers and a strong overview of the current state of the field for experts.

Tasting and Smelling presents a comprehensive overview to research on these two important modes of perception. The book offers a review of research findings on the biophysics, neurophysiology, and psychophysicsof both senses, as well as discussing the emotional component associated with taste and smell, and clinical disorders affecting each of these two senses. Tasting and Smelling answers how odors and flavors are perceived, why we have favorites, and what happens when our senses go awry. This book is of interest to the researcher in perception, cognition, or neurophysiology.

Leading neuroscientist Gordon M. Shepherd embarks on a paradigm-shifting trip through the "human brain flavor system," laying the foundations for a new scientific field: neurogastronomy. Challenging the belief that the sense of smell diminished during human evolution, Shepherd argues that this sense, which constitutes the main component of flavor, is far more powerful and essential than previously believed. Shepherd begins Neurogastronomy with the mechanics of smell, particularly the way it stimulates the nose from the back of the mouth. As we eat, the brain conceptualizes smells as spatial patterns, and from these and the other senses it constructs the perception of flavor. Shepherd then considers the impact of the flavor system on contemporary social, behavioral, and medical issues. He analyzes flavor's engagement with the brain regions that control emotion, food preferences, and cravings, and he even devotes a section to food's role in drug addiction and, building on Marcel Proust's iconic tale of the madeleine, its ability to evoke deep memories. Shepherd connects his research to trends in nutrition, dieting, and obesity, especially the challenges that many face in eating healthily. He concludes with human perceptions of smell and flavor and their relationship to the neural basis of consciousness. Everyone from casual diners and ardent foodies to wine critics, chefs, scholars, and researchers will delight in Shepherd's fascinating, scientific-gastronomic adventures.

Flavor science is continually evolving. Remaining current with the latest research and establishing a broad and sound understanding of the major developments and breakthroughs can be a challenge. The Weurman Flavour Research Symposium has long been regarded as the premier professional meeting focused on the science of flavor. Flavour Science, an extensive review of the most recent symposium, presents the latest in flavor research, enriching the chemistry-based vision of most flavorists and flavor chemists with understanding from a broad range of fields, including human physiology, ethology, psychophysics, genetics, bioinformatics or metabolomics. This book is ideal for all flavor scientists, food chemists and sensory scientists and has a strong audience among enologists as well. - Focuses on the rapidly changing field of flavor science - Includes the latest information on the physiology, chemistry and measurement of flavor - Presents practical information on the flavor industry and emerging trends

The science behind a good meal: all the sounds, sights, and tastes that make us like what we're eating—and want to eat more. Why do we consume 35 percent more food when eating with one other person, and 75 percent more when dining with three? How do we explain the fact that people who like strong coffee drink more of it under bright lighting? And why does green ketchup just not work? The answer is gastrophysics, the new area of sensory science pioneered by Oxford professor Charles Spence. Now he's stepping out of his lab to lift the lid on the entire eating experience—how the taste, the aroma, and our overall enjoyment of food are influenced by all of our senses, as well as by our mood and expectations. The pleasures of food lie mostly in the mind, not in the mouth. Get that straight and you can start to understand what really makes food enjoyable, stimulating, and, most important, memorable. Spence reveals in amusing detail the importance of all the “off the plate” elements of a meal: the weight of cutlery, the color of the plate, the background music, and much more. Whether we’re dining alone or at a dinner party, on a plane or in front of the TV, he reveals how to understand what we’re tasting and influence what others experience. This is accessible science at its best, fascinating to anyone in possession of an appetite. Crammed with discoveries about our everyday sensory lives, Gastrophysics is a book guaranteed to make you look at your plate in a whole new way.