Multisensory Flavor Perception
Open accessAbstract
The perception of flavor is perhaps the most multisensory of our everyday experiences. The latest research by psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists increasingly reveals the complex multisensory interactions that give rise to the flavor experiences we all know and love, demonstrating how they rely on the integration of cues from all of the human senses. This Perspective explores the contributions of distinct senses to our perception of food and the growing realization that the same rules of multisensory integration that have been thoroughly explored in interactions between audition, vision, and touch may also explain the combination of the (admittedly harder to study) flavor senses. Academic advances are now spilling out into the real world, with chefs and food industry increasingly taking the latest scientific findings on board in their food design.
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These cross modal interactions between the taste and aroma components of flavour would serve to enhance both the Sour taste and the Fermented, Berry, and Citrus flavours, consistent with the observed pattern.
“These cross modal interactions between the taste and aroma components of flavour would serve to enhance both the Sour taste and the Fermented, Berry, and Citrus flavours, consistent with the observed pattern44.”
From Brew temperature, at fixed brew strength and extraction, has little impact on the sensory profile of drip brew coffee (2020) · cites this paper as [44]
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- Authors
- Spence, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Spence, Charles
- ORCID
- Spence, Charles
- Venue
- Cell
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-03
- Volume
- 161
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 24-35
- ISSN
- 0092-8674 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1965518036
- Cited by
- 579
- References
- 81
- Citations by year
- 2026: 87 · 2025: 83 · 2024: 57 · 2023: 53 · 2022: 46 · 2021: 49 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 64 · 2018: 36 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 43.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/L007053/1)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Multisensory perception and integration
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Keywords
- flavor perception, multisensory integration, food perception, taste, olfaction, taste perception, food design, sensory cues
- MeSH terms
- Culture, Humans, Sensation, Taste, Food Industry, Taste Perception
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