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Taste Buds and Receptors01:20

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Gustation, or the sense of taste, is intrinsically linked to the anatomical structures located on the tongue. This organ's surface, along with the entirety of the oral cavity, is adorned with stratified squamous epithelium. Evident on the tongue are elevated structures known as papillae (singular = papilla), which house the mechanisms for the transduction of gustatory stimuli. Four distinct types of papillae exist, each identified by their unique morphological attributes: the circumvallate,...
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Appetitive Associative Olfactory Learning in Drosophila Larvae
09:22

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Published on: February 18, 2013

Auditory contributions to flavour perception and feeding behaviour.

Charles Spence1

  • 1Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, England, United Kingdom. charles.spence@psy.ox.ac.uk

Physiology & Behavior
|May 15, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Audition significantly influences human flavor perception and eating habits. Research shows that sounds from food, packaging, preparation, and the environment profoundly impact our sensory experiences and consumption behaviors.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Sensory Science
  • Food Science

Background:

  • Early research explored background noise effects on taste and food enjoyment.
  • The impact of food and beverage sounds on perception has been investigated.
  • Recent studies examine sounds from packaging and preparation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the role of audition in human flavor perception and feeding behavior.
  • To synthesize findings on how various sounds influence sensory and hedonic responses to food.
  • To explore the impact of environmental sounds on food consumption.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of laboratory experiments and field studies.
  • Analysis of research on background noise, food sounds, packaging sounds, and preparation sounds.
  • Examination of studies on music and soundscapes in food consumption.

Main Results:

  • Auditory cues significantly affect sensory-discriminative and hedonic aspects of flavor perception.
  • Sounds associated with food, packaging, preparation, and environment impact eating behavior.
  • Both controlled experiments and real-world studies confirm the influence of sound on food experience.

Conclusions:

  • Hearing plays a critical, often underestimated, role in how humans perceive flavor and engage in feeding behaviors.
  • The multisensory nature of flavor perception is strongly influenced by auditory stimuli.
  • Understanding the impact of sound can inform food product design and marketing.