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Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters
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.
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.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published December 2, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 16, 2012
Once I sat down to read this book, I couldn't stop. Read it in 3 days. Loved it. But I do not recommend this book for someone who has not had college level studies in neuroscience, unless they are willing to gloss over some discussions on very technical sections in brain science. Having a chemistry and sensory and perceptual psychology background will also help make the reading experience very rich and insightful.
The book is not for someone who reads pop science as a source for understanding brain science. Popular science has really dumbed down the workings of the brain to create cultural stereotypes, such as exclusively defining dopamine as the "happy" brain chemical. ( Sad.) I would not call this a "pop sci" book with a catchy title. It is worth the read. Moreover, it was written by a neuroscientist, and not someone who dabbles in the subject of brain science.
It is extremely dense in neuroscience, cognitive sci, molecular biology, sensory and perception psychology, anatomy, and behavioral psychology. I am very fond of the historical perspective the book has given in the area of flavor perception of individuals and cross-modal plasticity. If I were to sum one good reason to read this book, it would be to get the most cutting-edge science explanation to the concept that "you are what you eat...and taste."
The book is not for someone who reads pop science as a source for understanding brain science. Popular science has really dumbed down the workings of the brain to create cultural stereotypes, such as exclusively defining dopamine as the "happy" brain chemical. ( Sad.) I would not call this a "pop sci" book with a catchy title. It is worth the read. Moreover, it was written by a neuroscientist, and not someone who dabbles in the subject of brain science.
It is extremely dense in neuroscience, cognitive sci, molecular biology, sensory and perception psychology, anatomy, and behavioral psychology. I am very fond of the historical perspective the book has given in the area of flavor perception of individuals and cross-modal plasticity. If I were to sum one good reason to read this book, it would be to get the most cutting-edge science explanation to the concept that "you are what you eat...and taste."
February 10, 2014
The title suggests an exploration of food preparation and taste. Some might associate it with the so-called “molecular gastronomy” popularized by chef Ferran Adrià. Might elements of connoisseurship be included? Obviously, such an exploration must include the workings of the brain. Hence, the neologism: Neurogastronomy.
However, such assumptions would be misleading. Shepherd is a neuroscientist committed to explaining science to the layperson. He distinguishes the sensation of taste (the familiar quintet of sweet, sour, bitter, salt, and the more recent tastant, umami), from smell. In order to preserve the distinction, he refers to the combination of taste and smell as flavor, rather than taste.
The real subject of the book is smell, a topic both complex and intriguing. To illustrate his first major point, the author suggests a simple experiment. Place a morsel of food on your tongue, while holding your breath or pinching your nose. The taste? Nothing. Then, EXHALE. That burst of so-called flavor is really the activation of the smell sense, which he calls retro-nasal smell to distinguish it from the more familiar sniffing sensation of ortho-nasal smell. Shepherd builds on this distinction by contrasting the shape, pathway and smell receptors of humans to animals such as the dog and mouse. The concept feels surprising until one thinks of wine tasting, with its glass swirling, aeration, concentrated aromatic sampling, and deliberate sipping that moistens the entire mouth cavity.
The question that immediately arises is: How do we get from smell to flavor? Shepherd uses two main tools, analogy and repetition, to elucidate the complicated cell physiology of this process. The recurring analogy he relies on is vision. Just as the eye registers various wave lengths of light and processes the information into color, so the retro-nasal receptors are stimulated by the molecules of innumerable compounds and relay related but variegated signals. Just as vision works by sampling input and apprehending a pattern, so the receptors respond by firing overlapping and selective signals which produce “smell images.” Just as visual processing heightens contrast and modulates weaker intensities (lateral inhibition), so the “smell image” is subjected to the same treatment – shaped and refined from a pixelated to a nuanced image. Finally, just as the visual sense enables us to identify entities like faces from only partial information, so the sense of smell is a type of pattern recognition system involving the complex synthesis of disparate inputs that are ultimately reformatted for memory placement.
For those familiar with the physiology of vision, the comparison of processes and functions on the cellular level will be instantly understandable. Those with extensive scientific training should also look at the following website: http://senselab.med.yale.edu. Shepherd cites it when describing some of the smell images revealed by magnetic imaging techniques. For the rest of us, the broader metaphor of an electronic circuit will be easier to grasp, with its references to signal to noise ratio, positive and negative feedback, amplification, filtering, and relays. Shepherd provides numerous diagrams to aid the reader in envisioning the processing of flavor. However, readers with less of a science background would be better served by drawing their own “smell circuit” beginning with the retro-nasal smell receptors contoured into Odor-Binding Pockets, feeding into the Olfactory Bulb with its layers of glomeruli cells, mitral cells, and granule cells, feeding into the Olfactory Cortex, which in turn feeds directly into the Orbitofrontal Cortex, located in the neocortex area of the brain. Here, at this final location, taste, memory and emotion are processed with the smell image to produce a unique sensation of taste, and corresponding behaviors. This destination is important. Shepherd writes: “A key premise of this book is that humans have a much more highly developed sense of flavor because of the complex processing that occurs in the large human brain. It is this high level of processing – including systems for memory, emotion, higher cognitive processing, and especially language – that give us what I call our unique human brain flavor system.”
This narrative is ringed by descriptions of the measurement techniques, of dendrite density, axon direction, stimulus specificity, activity of individual cell types, particularly in the glomeruli layer, and experiments that confirm and refine our knowledge about how these cells function. Other detours visit the works of literary figures , evolutionary biologists, and researchers in other neuro- fields: Neuropsychology, neuropharmacology, neuroeconomics (particularly the relationship between dopamine and decision-making), and computational neuroscience (constructing computer models of nerve cell activity). It also addresses our perceptions: The expatriot longing for the foods of his homeland; our preference for yellow rather than white margarine (Kellogg recently disclosed there is no flavor difference among the colors in Fruit Loops -- who knew?); individual aversions and food cravings; and taste conditioning.
Returning to the title, why does all of this matter? Shepherd cites contributions to our understanding of nutrition, addiction and obesity. A more basic answer, however, is that scientific discovery is expanding exponentially. We bemoan the faltering scientific literacy of our children, but feel little obligation to upgrade our own levels of scientific literacy. This is a tough book to read. I had to re-read parts of it multiple times. During those readings, I found myself highlighting as if reading a textbook. This review is written as a roadmap to help future readers navigate the book. I frequently found myself taking “wrong turns,” and backtracking. I've given the book 3 stars, for that reason, but the content is designed to educate the general public – a laudable goal.
However, such assumptions would be misleading. Shepherd is a neuroscientist committed to explaining science to the layperson. He distinguishes the sensation of taste (the familiar quintet of sweet, sour, bitter, salt, and the more recent tastant, umami), from smell. In order to preserve the distinction, he refers to the combination of taste and smell as flavor, rather than taste.
The real subject of the book is smell, a topic both complex and intriguing. To illustrate his first major point, the author suggests a simple experiment. Place a morsel of food on your tongue, while holding your breath or pinching your nose. The taste? Nothing. Then, EXHALE. That burst of so-called flavor is really the activation of the smell sense, which he calls retro-nasal smell to distinguish it from the more familiar sniffing sensation of ortho-nasal smell. Shepherd builds on this distinction by contrasting the shape, pathway and smell receptors of humans to animals such as the dog and mouse. The concept feels surprising until one thinks of wine tasting, with its glass swirling, aeration, concentrated aromatic sampling, and deliberate sipping that moistens the entire mouth cavity.
The question that immediately arises is: How do we get from smell to flavor? Shepherd uses two main tools, analogy and repetition, to elucidate the complicated cell physiology of this process. The recurring analogy he relies on is vision. Just as the eye registers various wave lengths of light and processes the information into color, so the retro-nasal receptors are stimulated by the molecules of innumerable compounds and relay related but variegated signals. Just as vision works by sampling input and apprehending a pattern, so the receptors respond by firing overlapping and selective signals which produce “smell images.” Just as visual processing heightens contrast and modulates weaker intensities (lateral inhibition), so the “smell image” is subjected to the same treatment – shaped and refined from a pixelated to a nuanced image. Finally, just as the visual sense enables us to identify entities like faces from only partial information, so the sense of smell is a type of pattern recognition system involving the complex synthesis of disparate inputs that are ultimately reformatted for memory placement.
For those familiar with the physiology of vision, the comparison of processes and functions on the cellular level will be instantly understandable. Those with extensive scientific training should also look at the following website: http://senselab.med.yale.edu. Shepherd cites it when describing some of the smell images revealed by magnetic imaging techniques. For the rest of us, the broader metaphor of an electronic circuit will be easier to grasp, with its references to signal to noise ratio, positive and negative feedback, amplification, filtering, and relays. Shepherd provides numerous diagrams to aid the reader in envisioning the processing of flavor. However, readers with less of a science background would be better served by drawing their own “smell circuit” beginning with the retro-nasal smell receptors contoured into Odor-Binding Pockets, feeding into the Olfactory Bulb with its layers of glomeruli cells, mitral cells, and granule cells, feeding into the Olfactory Cortex, which in turn feeds directly into the Orbitofrontal Cortex, located in the neocortex area of the brain. Here, at this final location, taste, memory and emotion are processed with the smell image to produce a unique sensation of taste, and corresponding behaviors. This destination is important. Shepherd writes: “A key premise of this book is that humans have a much more highly developed sense of flavor because of the complex processing that occurs in the large human brain. It is this high level of processing – including systems for memory, emotion, higher cognitive processing, and especially language – that give us what I call our unique human brain flavor system.”
This narrative is ringed by descriptions of the measurement techniques, of dendrite density, axon direction, stimulus specificity, activity of individual cell types, particularly in the glomeruli layer, and experiments that confirm and refine our knowledge about how these cells function. Other detours visit the works of literary figures , evolutionary biologists, and researchers in other neuro- fields: Neuropsychology, neuropharmacology, neuroeconomics (particularly the relationship between dopamine and decision-making), and computational neuroscience (constructing computer models of nerve cell activity). It also addresses our perceptions: The expatriot longing for the foods of his homeland; our preference for yellow rather than white margarine (Kellogg recently disclosed there is no flavor difference among the colors in Fruit Loops -- who knew?); individual aversions and food cravings; and taste conditioning.
Returning to the title, why does all of this matter? Shepherd cites contributions to our understanding of nutrition, addiction and obesity. A more basic answer, however, is that scientific discovery is expanding exponentially. We bemoan the faltering scientific literacy of our children, but feel little obligation to upgrade our own levels of scientific literacy. This is a tough book to read. I had to re-read parts of it multiple times. During those readings, I found myself highlighting as if reading a textbook. This review is written as a roadmap to help future readers navigate the book. I frequently found myself taking “wrong turns,” and backtracking. I've given the book 3 stars, for that reason, but the content is designed to educate the general public – a laudable goal.
November 28, 2016
I learned a lot from this book, but be warned - pleasurable reading it does not make. So you don't have to, my main insights:
What we call ‘flavor’ is the combined qualia from smell and taste, and smell is far more influential for our perception of flavor than is taste; you probably know this from holding your nose while swallowing cough syrup. Taste, as a sense in itself, is quite limited. It can only detect salts, acids, sugars, bitters, and umami (glutamates). Only when combined with the other senses can the full picture of flavor emerge.
Furthermore, the idea that we have five senses comes from Aristotle and is not up to date (see: proprioception). In fact we have two senses of smell, orthonasal (front of nose) and retronasal (back of mouth), and it’s the latter that makes things taste like they do. When you breathe out, molecules from the food/bolus in your mouth and esophagus enter the nasal channel through the back of your mouth and stimulate your rich retronasal receptors. Dogs and other animals have acute orthonasal but limited retronasal smell, thus humans are unique in our flavor perceptual capability.
A few ideas new to me:
“Smell has the property of being, in general, ‘synthetic’; that is, a mixture of several smells makes a new unified smell. It is not ‘analytic,’ the way taste is: sweet and sour tastes sweet and sour rather than being a new unified taste. [p.32]”
If you’ve ever wondered why you have a “second stomach” for dessert: “In the 1950s he [Jacque Le Magnen] began detailed studies of laboratory rats fed different kinds of diets. He found that on daily lab chow they showed little weight gain, but if he offered them chow with different flavors they quickly began to gain weight. This effect was rediscovered in 1981 by Barbara Rolls and her colleagues at Oxford, who callide it sensory-specific satiety, meaning that with one flavor the animal quickly becomes full and bored with eating more, whereas a new flavor stimulates renewed eating. [p.189]”
“[A] famous study… showed that an animal that has been made sick from a food just once will avoid that food ever after, even though the sickness occurs many hours later. It is called conditioned taste aversion; in field studies of animals it is called bait shyness. Because it requires only one episode of sickness, it is also called one-trial learning. Bait shyness is so much more powerful than classical learning, which involves many paired associations between stimuli, that at first few psychologists believed it… When we suspect a food has made us sick, we lose our taste for it and search through our memories for the cause of it. [p.126-127]”
The diagram on page 161 is also excellent.
--
So, why does this only net three stars? As is advertised on the back cover, “Chefs and food lovers alike can benefit from a better appreciation of the phenomena at play throughout the culinary process, from the field to the fork and beyond.” While unlikely to be of interest to the general reader, the book is also not ostensibly targeted towards a scientific-academic audience. It just happens to be (largely) written for one.
Several chapters, especially 5 through 12, can only be deciphered by folks with at least a collegiate-level understanding of biochemistry or neuroscience, or those who parse through related research journals for fun. I cannot justify filling more than 60 pages (25% of the book) with uninterpretable and therefore soporific discourse, and I also don't need complex research histories with profligate name-dropping. Credit where credit’s due, Gordon Shepherd, but this sort of narrative has no place in a book based in positive epistemology; readers can intuit that 2012 is 2012.
Just the facts, please.
What we call ‘flavor’ is the combined qualia from smell and taste, and smell is far more influential for our perception of flavor than is taste; you probably know this from holding your nose while swallowing cough syrup. Taste, as a sense in itself, is quite limited. It can only detect salts, acids, sugars, bitters, and umami (glutamates). Only when combined with the other senses can the full picture of flavor emerge.
Furthermore, the idea that we have five senses comes from Aristotle and is not up to date (see: proprioception). In fact we have two senses of smell, orthonasal (front of nose) and retronasal (back of mouth), and it’s the latter that makes things taste like they do. When you breathe out, molecules from the food/bolus in your mouth and esophagus enter the nasal channel through the back of your mouth and stimulate your rich retronasal receptors. Dogs and other animals have acute orthonasal but limited retronasal smell, thus humans are unique in our flavor perceptual capability.
A few ideas new to me:
“Smell has the property of being, in general, ‘synthetic’; that is, a mixture of several smells makes a new unified smell. It is not ‘analytic,’ the way taste is: sweet and sour tastes sweet and sour rather than being a new unified taste. [p.32]”
If you’ve ever wondered why you have a “second stomach” for dessert: “In the 1950s he [Jacque Le Magnen] began detailed studies of laboratory rats fed different kinds of diets. He found that on daily lab chow they showed little weight gain, but if he offered them chow with different flavors they quickly began to gain weight. This effect was rediscovered in 1981 by Barbara Rolls and her colleagues at Oxford, who callide it sensory-specific satiety, meaning that with one flavor the animal quickly becomes full and bored with eating more, whereas a new flavor stimulates renewed eating. [p.189]”
“[A] famous study… showed that an animal that has been made sick from a food just once will avoid that food ever after, even though the sickness occurs many hours later. It is called conditioned taste aversion; in field studies of animals it is called bait shyness. Because it requires only one episode of sickness, it is also called one-trial learning. Bait shyness is so much more powerful than classical learning, which involves many paired associations between stimuli, that at first few psychologists believed it… When we suspect a food has made us sick, we lose our taste for it and search through our memories for the cause of it. [p.126-127]”
The diagram on page 161 is also excellent.
--
So, why does this only net three stars? As is advertised on the back cover, “Chefs and food lovers alike can benefit from a better appreciation of the phenomena at play throughout the culinary process, from the field to the fork and beyond.” While unlikely to be of interest to the general reader, the book is also not ostensibly targeted towards a scientific-academic audience. It just happens to be (largely) written for one.
Several chapters, especially 5 through 12, can only be deciphered by folks with at least a collegiate-level understanding of biochemistry or neuroscience, or those who parse through related research journals for fun. I cannot justify filling more than 60 pages (25% of the book) with uninterpretable and therefore soporific discourse, and I also don't need complex research histories with profligate name-dropping. Credit where credit’s due, Gordon Shepherd, but this sort of narrative has no place in a book based in positive epistemology; readers can intuit that 2012 is 2012.
Just the facts, please.
September 18, 2012
What are flavours, how are they created, how do they impact us and does it matter? These are the key questions addressed by neuroscientist Gordon M. Shepherd in this quite unusual, interesting book.
At first glance you may feel this is a fairly typical academic tome, full of top-notch information but barely accessible to the average reader. In this case you would be mistaken. Here the author has managed to create a book that is both accessible but not "dumbed down". You don't need a science degree to enjoy this book but, of course, should you be using it in the course of study you will equally find it of value.
Within this book the author seeks to create a new scientific field of study and understanding - neurogastronomy - and debunk the belief that the sense of smell diminished during human evolution. Taking an opposing view, Shepherd claims that our sense of flavour is inherently stronger than previously imagined. The basics of smell are covered from its interaction in the body as well as the "physical mechanics" of how a smell is transformed or processed into a flavour. This might turn a lot of conventional thinking on its head as we are led to believe, or think, that vanilla surely has the same taste to man as it might have to an animal. Once you start reading about this subject and thinking about it, the potential seems almost limitless. Society generally accepts that dogs have a great sense of smell and it appears to be more acute than humans. There are reasons for that. Yet how many people really know that there are many structural, physiological differences. Both noses smell things. Both brains process things, yet the processing "algorithm", for want of a better word, is different. There must be reasons for this.
The concepts raised by the author can also explain how flavouring intensity can vary tremendously between people. One could further postulate that different cultures and influences can change the nature and form of the smell/flavour interface.
Essentially the book is split into four major parts: noses and smells, making pictures of smells, creating flavour and why it (the overall theme of the book) matters. Within this each small chapter builds upon the knowledge learned and expressed so you can get a quite good, general understanding of this potentially very complex, developed theme. Each chapter is, in itself, quite short and to the point, which probably is an attraction and oddity in its own right (within academic works). There is a lot to say for this style of modular, nugget-sized learning, particularly when the material itself has not been watered down.
It is certainly a thought-provoking read, even if for many it is unlikely to be of practical, actionable interest for the average reader. But need that be a bad thing? Sometimes it is great to just get knowledge for knowledge's sake. With this book you get that in spades and get to read a work that has the potential for breaking new ground and developing a whole new direction of study.
This reviewer cautiously suggests that you need not have a specific scientific or culinary background to enjoy this book. Even as a 'general reader' it has a lot to offer, even if some of the more detailed material is skipped over. On a scientific level, no comment is possibly, but it certainly appears to provide a conclusive argument. The end of the book is rounded off with the usual extensive notes, bibliography and index that need no further explanation.
Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters, written by Gordon M. Shepherd and published by Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231159104, 288 pages. Typical price: USD16. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
At first glance you may feel this is a fairly typical academic tome, full of top-notch information but barely accessible to the average reader. In this case you would be mistaken. Here the author has managed to create a book that is both accessible but not "dumbed down". You don't need a science degree to enjoy this book but, of course, should you be using it in the course of study you will equally find it of value.
Within this book the author seeks to create a new scientific field of study and understanding - neurogastronomy - and debunk the belief that the sense of smell diminished during human evolution. Taking an opposing view, Shepherd claims that our sense of flavour is inherently stronger than previously imagined. The basics of smell are covered from its interaction in the body as well as the "physical mechanics" of how a smell is transformed or processed into a flavour. This might turn a lot of conventional thinking on its head as we are led to believe, or think, that vanilla surely has the same taste to man as it might have to an animal. Once you start reading about this subject and thinking about it, the potential seems almost limitless. Society generally accepts that dogs have a great sense of smell and it appears to be more acute than humans. There are reasons for that. Yet how many people really know that there are many structural, physiological differences. Both noses smell things. Both brains process things, yet the processing "algorithm", for want of a better word, is different. There must be reasons for this.
The concepts raised by the author can also explain how flavouring intensity can vary tremendously between people. One could further postulate that different cultures and influences can change the nature and form of the smell/flavour interface.
Essentially the book is split into four major parts: noses and smells, making pictures of smells, creating flavour and why it (the overall theme of the book) matters. Within this each small chapter builds upon the knowledge learned and expressed so you can get a quite good, general understanding of this potentially very complex, developed theme. Each chapter is, in itself, quite short and to the point, which probably is an attraction and oddity in its own right (within academic works). There is a lot to say for this style of modular, nugget-sized learning, particularly when the material itself has not been watered down.
It is certainly a thought-provoking read, even if for many it is unlikely to be of practical, actionable interest for the average reader. But need that be a bad thing? Sometimes it is great to just get knowledge for knowledge's sake. With this book you get that in spades and get to read a work that has the potential for breaking new ground and developing a whole new direction of study.
This reviewer cautiously suggests that you need not have a specific scientific or culinary background to enjoy this book. Even as a 'general reader' it has a lot to offer, even if some of the more detailed material is skipped over. On a scientific level, no comment is possibly, but it certainly appears to provide a conclusive argument. The end of the book is rounded off with the usual extensive notes, bibliography and index that need no further explanation.
Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters, written by Gordon M. Shepherd and published by Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231159104, 288 pages. Typical price: USD16. YYYY.
// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //
November 25, 2013
In places a fascinating book about how the brain creates flavour, following the pathway from molecules entering the nose and hitting smell receptors there, all the way up to the highest levels of brain function.
The major weakness of this book, at least as far as I'm concerned, is that although at times the author writes as if this were a popular science book, taking the time to explain concepts to the lay reader, at various key stages, he falls back on explanations that require a background in neuroscience, which makes actual understanding of the processes involved beyond the average reader.
This seems like a missed opportunity to me, since with a little bit of extra exposition and effort, the author, an expert in his field, could have made comprehension of this complex field accessible to the average person interested in how the brain works.
The parts that were most interesting to me were the sections dealing with the implications of how our brains process flavour, which provide insight into a range of diverse topics. These include our evolutionary past and why some people overeat to the point of obesity.
This book also shows how the old trope about humans having a weak and ineffective sense of smell is actually incorrect: in fact, our brains process smell in more complex ways than other animals, which accounts for the unique importance in the animal kingdom of flavour to human beings.
Overall, I'd say Neurogastronomy is worth a read whether or not you have a background in neuroscience, as long as you're willing to put up with only half understanding the big section in the middle that explains the brain mechanisms.
The major weakness of this book, at least as far as I'm concerned, is that although at times the author writes as if this were a popular science book, taking the time to explain concepts to the lay reader, at various key stages, he falls back on explanations that require a background in neuroscience, which makes actual understanding of the processes involved beyond the average reader.
This seems like a missed opportunity to me, since with a little bit of extra exposition and effort, the author, an expert in his field, could have made comprehension of this complex field accessible to the average person interested in how the brain works.
The parts that were most interesting to me were the sections dealing with the implications of how our brains process flavour, which provide insight into a range of diverse topics. These include our evolutionary past and why some people overeat to the point of obesity.
This book also shows how the old trope about humans having a weak and ineffective sense of smell is actually incorrect: in fact, our brains process smell in more complex ways than other animals, which accounts for the unique importance in the animal kingdom of flavour to human beings.
Overall, I'd say Neurogastronomy is worth a read whether or not you have a background in neuroscience, as long as you're willing to put up with only half understanding the big section in the middle that explains the brain mechanisms.
May 31, 2015
This book reminded me how hard it is to write a popular science book. I have a Biology degree and I'm pretty used to read biology literature and I find this book boring every now and then. It might be completely inaccessible in parts to people who are not familiar with biology/physiology jargon. Another fault of the book is to try to cover too much ground, so it feels like it jumps from place to place with no clear direction.
On the other hand, it is full of wonderful trivia and personally I learned a lot about taste, smell and flavor. And since I have started reading it, I feel I'm slightly more conscious about what I eat and how I process it with different senses; so the book added something to my life.
On the other hand, it is full of wonderful trivia and personally I learned a lot about taste, smell and flavor. And since I have started reading it, I feel I'm slightly more conscious about what I eat and how I process it with different senses; so the book added something to my life.
November 13, 2012
I enjoyed this book at the beginning, but it definitely is not for the casual reader (which I was). I also found that Mr. Shepherd tended to repeat himself a lot. He even noted this himself. The constant repetitions about taste and flavor kind of drove me a little crazy fairly quickly.
The book is technical. Not enough to make you an expertise, but if you do not have some familiarity with neurology going in you can quickly get lost and confused. If you can get past the jargon than this book has some interesting information and ideas.
The book is technical. Not enough to make you an expertise, but if you do not have some familiarity with neurology going in you can quickly get lost and confused. If you can get past the jargon than this book has some interesting information and ideas.
December 15, 2014
More 3.5.
The subject matter is incredibly interesting, and it's a field that really should be studied more, but the structure of the book was poorly organized, with digressions that needn't be made and other aspects left too vague. It should have been much shorter, or much longer, depending on who the target audience is.
The subject matter is incredibly interesting, and it's a field that really should be studied more, but the structure of the book was poorly organized, with digressions that needn't be made and other aspects left too vague. It should have been much shorter, or much longer, depending on who the target audience is.
October 31, 2019
In “Neurogastronomy, How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters” by Gordon M. Shepherd, the often underrated and underappreciated sense of smell is finally given the attention it deserves for providing humans the ability to enjoy the wide range of flavors and odors associated with food and drink. The misconceptions commonly believed by the general public having to do with taste and smell and how each contributes to the way we perceive food are also delved into in great detail by Shepperd. While the books concept seems at first glance to be something that can be explained nearly fully with a basic knowledge of biology, the cause and effect chain that creates taste is far more complex than what meets the eye. The clever use of elementary at home experiments in conjunction with high level academic research helps emphasize the importance of this budding science and paves the way for much more exciting research in the field.
The shear number of reputable academic institutions cited in the book speak to the importance and quality of the work being done currently in this field. Pennsylvania State University, Harvard, Berkeley, and a number of other top schools have made significant breakthroughs during the last 4 decades that have made the scientific community question our current knowledge of activation sites and how our brain reacts to external stimulus. The most impressive example of this that comes to mind is that of how the nasal passage traps and analyzes certain airborne chemicals that expand upon the sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy, and savory tastes that our tongue can identify. New research has shown that unlike traditional binding sites, our nasal passage has binding “pockets” that capture more than one type of chemical using affinity instead of the typical lock and key method seen on the tongue. This new type of binding site shows that the body can identify chemicals beyond the analysis of their shape and can much more accurately and precisely define how a certain chemical smells.
The topic discussed above is one of dozens of groundbreaking discoveries in the last few decades that has allowed an expanse of our knowledge of food science. Other key points such as how a smell is translated into positive or negative thoughts in the brain, and how humans, as creatures of habit, develop preference for certain flavors due to long term positive feedback in the brain when eating food are looked into expansively. The appearance of the food, the volatility of certain food compounds, temperature and pressure all surprisingly play a part in the tasting process, all of which came as a surprise to me personally while reading the book.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the ins and outs of how our body processes the taste of food. The science is solid, the points being made are extremely interesting, and the way the book is laid out draws you more and more in with each turn of the page. Shephard does an amazing job taking this complex and involved science and making it easily digestible (pun very much intended) for the lay person.
The shear number of reputable academic institutions cited in the book speak to the importance and quality of the work being done currently in this field. Pennsylvania State University, Harvard, Berkeley, and a number of other top schools have made significant breakthroughs during the last 4 decades that have made the scientific community question our current knowledge of activation sites and how our brain reacts to external stimulus. The most impressive example of this that comes to mind is that of how the nasal passage traps and analyzes certain airborne chemicals that expand upon the sweet, sour, bitter, salty, spicy, and savory tastes that our tongue can identify. New research has shown that unlike traditional binding sites, our nasal passage has binding “pockets” that capture more than one type of chemical using affinity instead of the typical lock and key method seen on the tongue. This new type of binding site shows that the body can identify chemicals beyond the analysis of their shape and can much more accurately and precisely define how a certain chemical smells.
The topic discussed above is one of dozens of groundbreaking discoveries in the last few decades that has allowed an expanse of our knowledge of food science. Other key points such as how a smell is translated into positive or negative thoughts in the brain, and how humans, as creatures of habit, develop preference for certain flavors due to long term positive feedback in the brain when eating food are looked into expansively. The appearance of the food, the volatility of certain food compounds, temperature and pressure all surprisingly play a part in the tasting process, all of which came as a surprise to me personally while reading the book.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the ins and outs of how our body processes the taste of food. The science is solid, the points being made are extremely interesting, and the way the book is laid out draws you more and more in with each turn of the page. Shephard does an amazing job taking this complex and involved science and making it easily digestible (pun very much intended) for the lay person.
March 6, 2014
I have never been more disappointed with a book. As a neuroscientist whose domestic partner is a chef, just like the author, I had high expectations. However, this book suffered from a couple glaring issues. First, the author never figured out what audience he was writing for. While the technical descriptions of the brain were best suited for other neuroscientists, there wasn't enough new or revelatory information to engage that audience. Second, the author committed all the classic errors of research scientists trying to write for the general public for the first time. His prose often read just like an academic article from 30 years ago, not even sufficient for scientific writing of today. He never established his voice. Also, the choices he made in structure and content were often strange, and the information he chose to omit or gloss over would have made the book far more interesting, had they been included. For instance, the finding that there are dopamine-containing neurons in the olfactory bulb is absolutely fascinating, and could account for some of the processing/learning that takes place before the sensory "image" reaches the neocortex...but it was mentioned in a single throwaway sentence. Additionally, the omission of the concept of memory consolidation from the chapter on plasticity was a huge oversight.
I will definitely be perusing the articles in the bibliography, as I feel like I'll get more value from the references than the book itself.
I will definitely be perusing the articles in the bibliography, as I feel like I'll get more value from the references than the book itself.
July 16, 2012
I’m glad I gave this book a try because it relates to topics that interest me. This is a science book, and a large portion of that science is over my head. (I do not have any background in chemistry or biochemistry.) The writing is lucid and readable, but I ultimately skimmed most of the book to ferret out the bigger takeaways because I wasn't going to quite follow the details or get much useful from them. Unless you want the nuts and bolts, you might be better served reading the review from the New York Review of Books (“The Secret of Good Taste”, June 21, 2012).
October 29, 2011
A very interesting book, specialy for who is interested in human brain and better in smell and taste.
It starts with the history of the smells and then how the create the flavor mixed with the tongue.
Not everything is clear about human smell, but this interesting book is a step forward on the road..
THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW
It starts with the history of the smells and then how the create the flavor mixed with the tongue.
Not everything is clear about human smell, but this interesting book is a step forward on the road..
THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW
July 11, 2012
A large part of 'taste' is retronasal smell - the sense of smell which comes from breathing out through your nose when eating. That's pretty much the only point this book makes. Not quite satisfying as popular science, nor sufficiently informative to be a textbook. I skimmed a lot and ultimately gave up.
Read
May 30, 2021Most of this book could be boiled down to the following sentence: the brain processes smell in a manner largely similar to that of vision. Along the way, there is a considerable amount of good information which provides a strong basis for understanding how taste is constructed by the brain; but the explanations inexplicably fluctuate between rudimentary and unnecessarily detailed.
One of the most intriguing questions raised in the books (regarding the existence of stem cells for taste buds and neurogenesis in the olfactory cortex) is almost immediately dismissed as 'unknown,' which seems to do a disservice to the reader. Instead, Shepherd indulges in several textual analyses of poems and prose which mention (or, often, don't) taste or flavour, as well as several sections on the taste of wine, which are largely comprised of lists of adjectives.
To put it bluntly, Shepherd is not a very good writer: I'm sure he is an expert in his field, but I'm not sure what kind of audience he had in mind while writing this. I'm disappointed that so many fascinating questions were left either unaddressed or very shallowly explored.
One of the most intriguing questions raised in the books (regarding the existence of stem cells for taste buds and neurogenesis in the olfactory cortex) is almost immediately dismissed as 'unknown,' which seems to do a disservice to the reader. Instead, Shepherd indulges in several textual analyses of poems and prose which mention (or, often, don't) taste or flavour, as well as several sections on the taste of wine, which are largely comprised of lists of adjectives.
To put it bluntly, Shepherd is not a very good writer: I'm sure he is an expert in his field, but I'm not sure what kind of audience he had in mind while writing this. I'm disappointed that so many fascinating questions were left either unaddressed or very shallowly explored.
August 12, 2021
Καλογραμμένο βιβλίο για τη νευροφυσιολογία της όσφρησης, αλλά πολύ τεχνικό, η δε σύνδεσή του με τη γαστρονομία, μικρή και επιφανειακή. Ιδανικά το κεντρικό τμήμα του βιβλίου με όλα τα κεφάλαια περί νευροφυσιολογίας θα έπρεπε να είναι ένα εκτεταμένο παράρτημα και να αφοσιωθεί περισσότερο στα συμπεράσματα της έρευνάς του: η αίσθηση της όσφρησης είναι πολύ πιο σημαντική απ' όσο νομίζουμε, αυτό που θεωρούμε γεύση είναι στην ουσία η μυρωδιά του φαγητού και του ποτού που μυρίζουμε μέσα από το στόμα μας καταναλώνοντας την τροφή μας. Το πιο ενδιαφέρον κομμάτι του βιβλίου είναι το τελευταίο, που αναφέρεται στην σπουδαιότητα της όσφρησης, από την ανθρώπινη εξέλιξη έως την υγεία μας.
January 29, 2022
Подробнейшая, глубокая, незанудная и дружелюбная книга, рассказывающая о строении человеческого обоняния. Пожалуй, лучшее, что можно найти на русском по этой теме - там и эволюционные предпосылки формирования вкуса-запаха, и развитие цивилизации через развитие кулинарии, и связь обоняния и памяти, и всё на свете. Написано честно, читателя не держат за дебила, не сюсюкают, но и не перегружают книгу ненужными терминами и сложными словами (кроме тех мест, где без них не обойтись). Научпоп здорового человека, всем нюхачам строго рекомендуется.
January 2, 2023
Not quite 'light' reading, I had picked this is up in relation to a work related project, reading it over a few months and found it immensely informative. As the title of the book suggests, this is the author's take on his lifelong research on the role of brain activity in flavour. He particularly focuses on concepts of 'retronasal smell' and olfactory images to explain how smell and taste are deeply interconnected, and how our neural activity influence them to help us perceive flavour and therefore also make dietary choices. Some very interesting insights on how olfaction and taste have evolved in mammals over the years. That said, it does read more like a textbook than a pop-science book...still quite accessible, in my opinion, if you have some basic biology background.
February 21, 2024
Very extensive in terms of content, it has a lot or jargon so i wouldn’t recommend it if you want a light read or if you’re kit familiar with more, relatively complex biological/neuro terms. In defense, the author foes explain these concepts pretty well
November 23, 2024
This book is somewhere between a textbook and a popular science book, I like that balance. I wouldn’t expect to learn much about gastronomy from this book but otherwise there’s a lot of olfactory science to be learned about!
October 12, 2025
excellent discussion on human sense of smells and tastes
I never knew smells were coupled with tastes to enhance the eating of food. The human brain is extremely complicated and quite amazing.
I never knew smells were coupled with tastes to enhance the eating of food. The human brain is extremely complicated and quite amazing.
July 29, 2020
Another poorly written book by a scientist who may have a lot to say but doesn't know how to say it. A few interesting points hear and there.
Read
August 15, 2021Ok
Read
January 25, 2024First 8-10 chapters were extremely insightful then I started realizing that I must reread it after taking a course of basics of anatomy and neuroscience.
January 28, 2026
It reads like a textbook. Some parts were very interesting, but others were dry.
September 8, 2016
È opinione comune che il senso dell'olfatto sia inferiore a quello degli altri esseri viventi, nonché inferiore agli altri sensi che utilizziamo.
Questa è un'affermazione che si sente dire spesso, magari nel mondo del vino dove i riconoscimenti olfattivi soprattutto fra gli inesperti sono una bella barriera all’entrata. Non è neppure una scoperta recente, se di scoperta si può parlare, visto che è stato Aristotele il primo a fare quest’affermazione. Da allora ce la portiamo dietro. L’opinione comune vuole che ciò dipenda dal fatto che mentre gli animali usano l’olfatto per scovare il pericolo, noi non ne abbiamo più bisogno.
In realtà, ed è la tesi principale di Gordon M. Shepherd in Neurogastronomy (Columbia University Press), in Italia uscito col titolo di All’Origine del Gusto(Codice Edizioni) l’olfatto non è assolutamente un senso meno significante di altri. Anzi. Shepherd è un professore di neurobiologia a Yale ed ex direttore editoriale del Journal of Neuroscience.
qui il resto https://www.vinix.com/myDocDetail.php...
Questa è un'affermazione che si sente dire spesso, magari nel mondo del vino dove i riconoscimenti olfattivi soprattutto fra gli inesperti sono una bella barriera all’entrata. Non è neppure una scoperta recente, se di scoperta si può parlare, visto che è stato Aristotele il primo a fare quest’affermazione. Da allora ce la portiamo dietro. L’opinione comune vuole che ciò dipenda dal fatto che mentre gli animali usano l’olfatto per scovare il pericolo, noi non ne abbiamo più bisogno.
In realtà, ed è la tesi principale di Gordon M. Shepherd in Neurogastronomy (Columbia University Press), in Italia uscito col titolo di All’Origine del Gusto(Codice Edizioni) l’olfatto non è assolutamente un senso meno significante di altri. Anzi. Shepherd è un professore di neurobiologia a Yale ed ex direttore editoriale del Journal of Neuroscience.
qui il resto https://www.vinix.com/myDocDetail.php...
January 30, 2013
This is my favorite kind of non-fiction: Dense, well-researched, and contains the explanation of a system as a whole (through its constituent parts).
In short, it's about our brain's perception of flavor on a neural, emotional, and social level. The effect of scent upon flavor is of utmost importance, especially retronasal smell (i.e. exhaling with food in your mouth creates much of our sensation of flavor as opposed to the inhalation of a food that's in front of you). Scent is then explained through vision, if only because our brain has a similar response: it notices contrast (which is why it's easy to read by candlelight or why a brownie-filled apartment is initially mouth-watering but the scent slowly fades to the background).
From there, the interconnected nature of our brains is explained, meaning that all our senses tie into our emotional processing of the food: the sight of a red apple, the crunch (which matters both because of texture and our sense of hearing) of a carrot, the scent of a hamburger, and any association positive (cookies remind me of home) or negative (I got so sick off of French silk pie). Proust's famous madeleine-triggered flashback is explained as a perfect example of such, and broken down on a neurological level.
Flavor is so much more complex than the reaction of a taste bud. It's emotional, it involves all our senses, and each part of our brain adapts to what we eat to amplify the sensation or create a new association between a food and a flavor or emotion.
Perfectly complex from the bottom to the top.
In short, it's about our brain's perception of flavor on a neural, emotional, and social level. The effect of scent upon flavor is of utmost importance, especially retronasal smell (i.e. exhaling with food in your mouth creates much of our sensation of flavor as opposed to the inhalation of a food that's in front of you). Scent is then explained through vision, if only because our brain has a similar response: it notices contrast (which is why it's easy to read by candlelight or why a brownie-filled apartment is initially mouth-watering but the scent slowly fades to the background).
From there, the interconnected nature of our brains is explained, meaning that all our senses tie into our emotional processing of the food: the sight of a red apple, the crunch (which matters both because of texture and our sense of hearing) of a carrot, the scent of a hamburger, and any association positive (cookies remind me of home) or negative (I got so sick off of French silk pie). Proust's famous madeleine-triggered flashback is explained as a perfect example of such, and broken down on a neurological level.
Flavor is so much more complex than the reaction of a taste bud. It's emotional, it involves all our senses, and each part of our brain adapts to what we eat to amplify the sensation or create a new association between a food and a flavor or emotion.
Perfectly complex from the bottom to the top.
July 3, 2024
I can't get in to this book. The author gets off to a bad start in the Introduction: he gives credit for the book's origin to his wife, who is a "gourmet cook" and "reference librarian and an avid reader," but then diminishes her scholarly pursuits by listing her myriad hobbies; the author, meanwhile, sums up his work more simply and straightforwardly: "my life has been in the laboratory, studying the part of the brain responsible for the sense of smell." He apparently has no hobbies or pesky child-care responsibilities that would split his focus.
The fact that the author made up the word for the title isn't a deal breaker, if it's truly a new field, but he lost me when he quotes himself, including a quotation he said that appeared in an article by a different author.
No matter how interesting the brain science may be, this is an author unlikely to be able to get out of his own way, too full of himself to offer a connection to readers.
approved for the eARC from NetGalley but didn't get to it in time; read courtesy of my local public library.
The fact that the author made up the word for the title isn't a deal breaker, if it's truly a new field, but he lost me when he quotes himself, including a quotation he said that appeared in an article by a different author.
No matter how interesting the brain science may be, this is an author unlikely to be able to get out of his own way, too full of himself to offer a connection to readers.
approved for the eARC from NetGalley but didn't get to it in time; read courtesy of my local public library.
August 8, 2012
Interesting things about margarine:
"Butanedione is added to margarine to give it its buttery flavor. Linoleic acid (C18H32O2) is the main fatty acid in many vegetable oils, such as cottonseed, corn, soybean, and rapeseed oil. It is also used in margarine, shortening, and salad and cooking oils. It has little smell by itself. It is hydrogenated (by bubbling hydrogen through the linoleic oil) to prevent the fat from being oxidized; that is why margarine does not get rancid. However, the hydrogenation leaves the margarine white, so carotene molecules are added to restore the yellow color. Butanedione is added to give it a butter odor. This is a good example of how an understanding of molecules can give insight into the world we live in."
although, that is not to say at all that this book is about margarine :)
"Butanedione is added to margarine to give it its buttery flavor. Linoleic acid (C18H32O2) is the main fatty acid in many vegetable oils, such as cottonseed, corn, soybean, and rapeseed oil. It is also used in margarine, shortening, and salad and cooking oils. It has little smell by itself. It is hydrogenated (by bubbling hydrogen through the linoleic oil) to prevent the fat from being oxidized; that is why margarine does not get rancid. However, the hydrogenation leaves the margarine white, so carotene molecules are added to restore the yellow color. Butanedione is added to give it a butter odor. This is a good example of how an understanding of molecules can give insight into the world we live in."
although, that is not to say at all that this book is about margarine :)
August 12, 2023
A fascinating subject but despite learning a few very interesting things I was overall disappointed with the book. The first problem is the book tries to cover too much and ends up spreading itself thin, the second is the writing style is very dry - too many references and, to me, unnecessary facts and credits to colleagues and peers and conferences that would be better served in a references section at the back of the book and a lot of tangents into other related subjects that end up digressing too much. A very interesting subject with a lot of great data but very dryly written.
February 2, 2015
Although the latter parts of the book can get rather dense with the accumulated knowledge, this book provided a new appreciation on the importance of scent, texture and other secondary characteristics towards the creation of flavor qualia in the brain, and gives excellent empirical references to back up each implication. While not especially oriented towards the preparation of food, anyone into the science of food, or neuroscience in general, will find a lot of interesting tidbits throughout.
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