Synesthesia: Smelling Sounds & Seeing Smells
Synesthesia is a neurologically based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway1,2,3,4. One person out of every thousand has synaesthesia & surprisingly, there are people who can smell sounds, see smells or hear colors5.
The most common types of synesthesia are:
Grapheme/Colour Synesthesia: The most common form, where letters & numbers are shaded with different colours
Sound/Colour Synesthesia: Environmental sounds, voices & music are perceived as fireworks & colour shapes
Number Form Synesthesia: A mental map or vision is perceived when thinking of numbers
Personification Synesthesia: Ordinal numbers, days & months have personalities
Lexical/Gustatory Synesthesia: Words & sentences produce taste sensations
It is clear that the world would be quite a different place if our perception was transformed by any of the types of synesthesia. The food & beverage industry would be forced to completely change. Imagine if a large percentage of the world population could smell sounds? Products would always be marketed utilizing very evident music or sounds, while restaurants would strategically play certain kinds of music that could possibly pair up with the dishes offered. Nevertheless, it would be a complicated world. Could we possibly gain weight by simply listening to music? Or could we possibly be over-stimulated in a world already blanketed with different smells & sounds?
1. Cytowic, Richard E. (2002). Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses (2nd edition). Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-03296-1. OCLC 49395033
2. Cytowic, Richard E. (2003). The Man Who Tasted Shapes. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-53255-7. OCLC 53186027.
3. Cytowic, Richard E; Eagleman, David M (2009). Wednesday is Indigo Blue: Discovering the Brain of Synesthesia (with an afterword by Dmitri Nabokov). Cambridge: MIT Press. pp. 309. ISBN 0-262-01279-9.
4. Harrison, John E.; Simon Baron-Cohen (1996). Synaesthesia: classic and contemporary readings. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-19764-8. OCLC 59664610
5. http://www.science20.com/news_releases/synaesthesia_smelling_a_sound_or_...
FrançaisUser login
EnglishIndustry News
- Unhealthy Food Ads Dominate Spanish TV Shows For Kids
- Omega-3s May Limit Impact of Unhealthy Foods on Brain
- Farm Bill Clears Senate Ag Committee
- Cocoa Prices Rise on Supply Worries
- FDA Releases Tool to Strengthen U.S. Food Defense
- Hearthside Food Solutions, Ryt-way Industries Merge
- Kids, Teens Top Consumers of Snack Foods, Women No. 2
- Expedia.ca Research Finds Most Canadians Love Summer Long Weekends for a Quick Getaway
- FDA Alert: Companies Issue Multiple Food Recalls in Q1
- Middle East and Africa Hotel Development Pipeline For April 2013 at 492 Hotels
Tag Frequency
Our Latest
Canadian natural health products (NHP’s) are intended to restore or maintain good health. An impressively large number of Canadians use natural health products. In 2010 a survey was conducted, which demonstrated that 73% of Canadians use NHPs on a regular basis
We have compiled a few salt reduction related articles that have been published in the recent while. Salt reduction has been a very hot topic in Canada over the last few years, but Canadian guidelines have tended to be unclear & inconsistent. Regardless of the food industries obligations, reducing sodium in foods still remains a very healthy & popular product improvement move that food companies should be looking into. Canadian levels of salt in various food products are currently the highest, when compared to other G20 countries, thus it is clear that Canadian companies will eventually be asked to decrease total sodium levels at one point.
Flavours can do much more then simply add a specific taste/smell profile to your food products. Novotaste added value flavours are different then any of the simple flavour systems that you typically get from other flavour houses. We can formulate flavour systems that can deliver the best possible profile to your products, while also containing a range of other ingredients such as colours, extracts, essential oils, acids, antioxidants, sugar(s), nutraceuticals, fortifications, texture related ingredients, markers for quality control, sugar substitutes & salt replacers. Please refer to the "
What do Saskatoon berries, seabuckthorn berries, and haskap berries all have in common? They are all produced by Canadian farmers! Raspberries, strawberries and blueberries get most of the attention in the summer. However, these other three berries deserve a second look.
Utilizing alcohol in applications is not always possible & cost effective. The solution to this problem is to use Novotaste’s range of customizable non-alcoholic wine, spirit & liquor flavours. Enhance your products with the flavour profiles of 100 year old cognac, 50 year old rum, an exclusive late bottled vintage porto or a rare wine. Ethanol (food-grade alcohol) gives character to alcoholic beverages & is generally one of the main reasons why they are consumed. The flavour of champagne, rum, porto & most alcoholic beverages (not cocktails) is actually perceived to be quite different when there is not alcohol or if certain attributes such as gas (or CO2) levels are modified. When CO2 is removed from champagne, it can be perceived as being more acidic, bland with some yeast character & having some mild apple top-notes.
Novotaste appeared in an episode of "
The lulo or narinjilla fruit is such an interesting fruit, because it not only has a unique but citrus-like look, but it also has a very refreshing flavour profile. This fruit is typically found in the North-West part of South America & is commonly used in a variety of dishes & beverages. When tasting this exotic fruit for the first time, people generally describe the taste as being a combination of citrus, strawberry, lime & rhubarb. While it is quite difficult to obtain the actual fruit in North America, some basic products containing some juice concentrate can be found in a variety of on-line stores. However, these products tend to negatively represent the actual profile of this great tasting fruit.
Aromatherapy is officially defined as a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile plant materials, known as 
I was originally looking forward to viewing the advertised 60 Minute segment on Flavourists, but was quite disappointed with the sensationalism involved. Its not uncommon for media to spin stories in such as way that it creates controversy & noise. Many people think that there is no such thing as "bad publicity", but sometimes, people will simply focus on the less important noise & totally ignore the substance.
In recent years, new flavour combinations have been very trendy as can be seen in various products on the market. In some cases two popular flavours are either combined as one or inside individual layers or matrices. Various chewing gums, hard candies, bakery, beverage & other confectionery products currently have used this concept & even taken it to other levels. There is a skittles product that actually has been marketed as having flavour & colour combinations that are completely different then what the consumer is expecting. An example of this would be to have a lime flavoured layer (typically green) coloured with red. While it is possible to simply combine any two flavour profiles together, the net result will not necessarily be very good. Certain profiles are known to be compatible, others are waiting to be discovered & many are simply not meant to be.
Miracle berries (Synsepalum dulcificum) are very interesting, because once chewed on, sourness becomes sweet. It is also commonly referred to as miracle fruit, miraculous berry & sweet berry. "The berry itself has a low sugar content
As typical consumers, we probably smell/taste hundreds of different things in a given day. If you are working in the food industry (especially flavour houses), this number could easily reach a thousand! A flavourist will typically need to quantitatively & qualitatively identify individual chemicals in flavour formulations & different food applications. How does one quantify the strength of individual chemicals?
An up and coming super fruit, Gac has been dubbed the “Fruit from Heaven.” With its exceptional flavour and vibrant colour, gac fruit is used in traditional Vietnamese dishes to mark special occasions. Be it a wedding or the arrival of a new year, its dark orange pulp expresses life, vitality, and longevity. Studies in recent years have supported this conviction by revealing the high levels of antioxidants contained in gac1,2. It is no wonder that the Western world is turning with enthusiasm towards this unique fruit.
This work was presented in a poster at the 9th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium:
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Developed by Dynamaze