Matters of Taste: Neuroscience and Philosophy

Matters of Taste: Neuroscience and Philosophy For several decades, sensory research in psychology, focused on the study of single sense modalities: for example, vision, audition, and smell. Taste was equally thought of as a single sense; and yet our experience of tasting always involves touch, taste and smell. The complex interplay of these senses, along with visual and auditory cues, affects the flavours we perceive in what we eat and drink, and recent research in neuroscience confirms that such multisensory integration is much more pervasive than previously thought. In his talk, Professor Charles Spence will explore the variety of interactions of sensory systems that contribute to, or alter, our perception of flavours. Professor Barry Smith will examine the consequences these findings have for our ability to make accurate judgments of taste, to vary in our tastes, and to think of taste as continuous with aesthetic appreciation. Charles Spence Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford Barry C. Smith Director, Institute of Philosophy, University of London