How does the brain taste? I don't mean what flavors it might offer, were one to eat it. I'm curious about how it processes the various sensations we know as taste. I have a growing suspician that current theories on taste will someday be as amusing as today's take on the flat world theory.
For example, how do we explain the wide variation in taste that individual brains send their owners when presented with the same substance. Such as found in a glass of wine, for example, where one person's love is another's anethema.
How can I be sure that taste varies from one person to another? Anyone who has eaten dinner with a 5-year old knows they aren't experiencing flavors the same way we are. Whether they experience a different sensation, or merely react differently to the same sensation is up for debate. But let's set aside adult-child comparisons and consider discrepancies between adults alone. One also arrives at the same conclusion about disparity in taste if one has a spouse who hates a food you love. The combination of sweet and savory, for example (sorry hon, I just couldn't resist).
Of course, one might argue that such variations are simply due to an individual's frequency of exposure - the more you eat something, the more you like it. This issue was recently addressed by Jancis Robinson in her 10/26/07 article "Drink Globally to Ward Off Cellar Palate". 
I recently heard a related concept presented by a food specialist who described how kids need 30 exposures before they learn to like a food they initially dislike. He wasn't at my childhood table when my brother gagged on his green beans for 9 years running.
Music and Wine - Science or Snake Oil?
On the tail of these discussions about inter-individual variation came an interesting article about changes to a given individual's taste experience. Specifically, can your choice in music affect the way you experience a wine? This was nicely addressed in the 11/2/07 article by W. Blake Gray in the S.F. Chronicle "Music to drink wine by: Vintner insists music can change wine's flavors." The article is lengthy, but I doubt your employer will mind if you take another ten minutes to click the link to pursue greater knowledge of your personal hobby. The article detailss the theory of provocateur Clark Smith, a Vintner and owner of Vinovation, who insists certain music affects our taste experience.
Smith's company, Vinovation, spends their day "fixing" wine, adjusting it until it fits into the mold defined by the buying public for what "good wine" is today. Think of them as "Nip and Tuck" for the wine industry - taking off a bit of alcohol here, tucking some volatile acidity there, then tweaking down the tannins until "voila!" there you have it, a 90 pointer!
It was in reading of Clark's discovery - about how a .1% difference in alcohol can move a wine into its "sweet spot" - that made me wonder if tasting was similar to music (think of two singers where one was .1% out of tune). Might there be a wave or vibration phenomenon at work? Consider the theories on scent reported in the well-written book by Chandler Burr - "The Emperor of Scent" the tale of Luca Turin, a lonely scientist who promotes his controversial conclusions about scent as vibration instead of shape. Things seem to be falling into place, theory-wise.
"Never play polkas with anything," unless you really like White Zinfandel."
Like Turin, Clark Smith is promoting different ways of thinking about how our brains process taste sensations. Specifically, he believes different types of music affect the frontal lobe in ways that enhance or detract from different types of wine - also a frontal lobe experience. Clark has demonstrated to countless doubters how Mozart makes a pinot taste better, but Metallica makes a Cabernet taste better. Then he'll reverse the music-and-wine combinations and show how the wines taste WORSE when paired with the "wrong" music.
Which makes me wonder... with all the words I've dedicated to matching wine and food, perhaps I should give equal time to the matching of wine and music. I sense some highly enjoyable research ahead. Though I do wonder if Smith's theory falls apart when such real-world distractions as conversation are introduced. When the tasters no longer focus on the wine and the music all bets are off, I'll bet.
Want more information on this topic? Check out these resources:
Musicophilia, by brain researcher Oliver Sacks. NPR recently aired an interview with Dr. Oliver Sacks talking about this new book. His latest insights into the human brain considers how it processes music and at how music can be effective in therapy and other forms of learning and recovery.
The Mozart Effect - This theory is based on findings that the musical structures used by Maestro Mozart have a short-term ability to make the brain particularly adept at spatial learning. There is a thorough overview of this controversial theory here at Wikipedia. Or find books on the topic here.
The Emperor of Scent - by Chandler Burr. This well-written book makes difficult scientific issues understandable even for those who could get no better than a "C" in Chemistry and Physics. In addition, it's well worth reading for the story of Luca Turin, the scientist shunned by an industry threatened by his new theories on scent, theories that could turn the likes of IFF (International Fragrance and Flavors) on its head.
Do Your Own Research And Let Us Know What You Find!
I intend to do some research on this ourselves, and will report our own experiences. But I would love to hear from those of you who are willing to try this at home! I first recommend reading the aforementioned article by W. Blake Gray, then (and this part is particularly critical to a good outcome!) making sure you have an ample supply of wine on hand (buy it here). I look forward to your comments!
Cheers!
Dave Chambers, Wine Merchant
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