“Given humankind’s long history of struggling to find food, it makes sense that people are highly motivated to hunt it down, and that we experience intense pleasure when we finally eat it.” According to Lauri Nummenmaa, a neuroscientist at Aalto University in Finland, this evolutionary drive to secure food could also mean that fatty foods affect … Continue reading
Flavor may have had an driving role in human evolution. In that same cup, just the flavor of beer may be required to make you feel happy, no alcohol required. Continue reading
Our next public lecture is coming up fast! To get ready for How We Taste, read up on how Dr. Dana Small is helping us scientifically understand our relationship with food. Continue reading
Imagine eating a lemon and puckering to incredibly sour…no wait, incredibly sweet citrus syrup. Then you try some tart goat cheese, but to your surprise, it tastes like sugary frosting. An underripe pineapple? Better than candy. Salt and vinegar chips? Dessert! This fantastical taste-changing sensation is the real-life effect of a West African fruit called … Continue reading
Dr. Dana Small is a Professor in Psychiatry at Yale University, a Fellow at the John B. Pierce Laboratory, and visiting Professor at the University of Cologne. Her research focuses on understanding the mechanisms behind flavor preference formation, investigating the role of cognition in chemosensory perception, and determining how the modern food environment impacts brain … Continue reading
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