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.
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction: Retronasal Smell and the New Age of Flavor
- Part I. Noses and Smells
- 1 The Revolution in Smell and Flavor
- 2 Dogs, Humans, and Retronasal Smell
- 3 How the Mouth Fools the Brain
- 4 The Molecules of Flavor
- Part II. Making Pictures of Smells
- 5 Smell Receptors for Smell Molecules
- 6 Forming a Sensory Image
- 7 Images of Smell: An “Aha” Moment
- 8 A Smell Is Like a Face
- 9 Pointillist Images of Smell
- 10 Enhancing the Image
- 11 Creating, Learning, and Remembering Smell
- Part III. Creating Flavor
- 12 Smell and Flavor
- 13 Taste and Flavor
- 14 Mouth- Sense and Flavor
- 15 Seeing and Flavor
- 16 Hearing and Flavor
- 17 The Muscles of Flavor
- 18 Putting It Together: The Human Brain Flavor System
- Part IV. Why It Matters
- 19 Flavor and Emotions
- 20 Flavor and Memory Reinterpreting Proust
- 21 Flavor and Obesity
- 22 Decisions and the Neuroeconomics of Flavor and Nutrition
- 23 Plasticity in the Human Brain Flavor System
- 24 Smell, Flavor, and Language
- 25 Smell, Flavor, and Consciousness
- 26 Smell and Flavor in Human Evolution
- 27 Why Flavor Matters
- Bibliography
- Index
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