Have you ever been in that situation where they talk about caramel notes in a drink and you act like it? Or when we say that the dish has layers of flavors and, for you, it all comes together? Well, some people can apparently detect subtle nuances of flavor that others don’t notice. But you can do it. Researchers at Tohoku University have found that taste sensitivity can be improved through learning.
A research team studied how individuals distinguish and remember subtle differences within the same flavor quality. 40 adults participated in “sweet taste recall training” designed to improve their ability to recognize and remember subtle variations in sweet taste.
At the start of the study, researchers measured each participant’s taste threshold – the lowest concentration at which sweet taste could be perceived – for five sweet substances: glucose, fructose, sucrose, maltose and lactose. Participants were then repeatedly exposed to these sweeteners at concentrations slightly below their individual thresholds. For three consecutive days, they tasted the samples and were asked to remember which sweet substance they were tasting.
After just three days of training, participants showed significant improvement in their taste sensitivity to the five sweet substances. Taste perception thresholds decreased, indicating a more refined perception.
These results clearly prove that taste perception, like vision or hearing, is plastic and can be improved through learning.
“Taste expertise has long been associated with experience rather than innate talent,” says Uijin Park, one of the study’s authors. “For example, sommeliers are thought to develop refined palates not because they are born with special taste buds, but because years of experience allow them to accumulate detailed ‘taste memories’ in the brain.”
Understanding how taste memory and sensory learning interact in the brain could lead to new rehabilitation strategies for taste disorders and age-related appetite loss.
“We are pleased to announce that taste recall-based rehabilitation is already being explored in clinical practice at Tohoku University Hospital,” says Professor Satoru Ebihara, lead author of the study.
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