Tasting and Smelling presents a comprehensive overview to research on these two important modes of perception. The book offers a review of research findings on the biophysics, neurophysiology, and psychophysicsof both senses, as well as discussing the emotional component associated with taste and smell, and clinical disorders affecting each of these two senses. Tasting and Smelling answers how odors and flavors are perceived, why we have favorites, and what happens when our senses go awry. This book is of interest to the researcher in perception, cognition, or neurophysiology.

Chemosensory dysfunction is a quite frequently occurring problem which significantly affects the patient's quality of life. It can result from infectious agents, environmental factors, toxins, traumatic brain injuries, as well as neurodegenerative diseases. This publication provides up-to-date articles on the chemical senses including the olfactory, trigeminal and gustatory systems. The vomeronasal system and its potential significance in humans is also discussed. Based on recent functional imaging data, the book provides an overview on how the 'lower senses' function, how they work together, for example to produce flavor, how they can be damaged and repaired, and how the function of human chemical senses can be assessed. The publication focuses on chemosensory dysfunction and pays particular attention to taste and its disorders. Renowned experts in their fields of research have contributed their findings to this topical update on chemosensory disorders and made this volume indispensable reading for otorhinolaryngologists and neurologists.

"Smith's history of the sensate is destined to precipitate a revolution in our understanding of the sensibilities that underpinned the mentalities of past epochs."--David Howes, author of Sensual Relations: Engaging the Senses in Culture and Social Theory "Mark M. Smith presents a far-ranging essay on the history of the senses that serves simultaneously as a good introduction to the historiography. If one feels in danger of sensory overload from this growing body of scholarship, Smith's piece is a useful preventive."--Leigh E. Schmidt, author of Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality "This is a masterful overview. The history of the senses has been a frontier field for a while now. Mark Smith draws together what we know, with an impressive sensory range, and encourages further work. A really exciting survey."--Peter N. Stearns, author of American Fear: The Causes and Consequences of High Anxiety "Who would ever have guessed that a book on the history of the senses--seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling--could be informative, thought-provoking, and, at the same time, most entertaining? Ranging in both time and locale, Mark Smith's Sensing the Past makes even the philosophy about the senses from ancient times to now both learned and exciting. This work will draw scholars into under-recognized subjects and lay readers into a world we simply but unwisely take for granted."--Bertram Wyatt-Brown, author of Southern Honor: Ethics and Behavior in the Old South "Mark M. Smith has a good record of communicating his research to a broad constituency within and beyond the academy . . . This will be required reading for anyone addressing sensory history."--Penelope Gouk, author of Music, Science and Natural Magic in Seventeenth Century England "This is a fine cultural history of the body, which takes Western and Eastern traditions and their texts quite seriously. Smith views a history of the senses not only from 'below' but places it squarely in the historical imagination. It will be of interest to a wide range of readers."--Sander L. Gilman, author of Difference and Pathology

Currently, Internet and virtual reality communication is essentially audio-visual. The next important breakthrough of the Internet will be the communication and sharing of smell and taste experiences digitally. Audio-visual stimuli are frequency based, and they can be easily digitized and actuated. On the other hand, taste and smell stimuli are based on chemical molecules, therefore, they are not easy to digitize or actuate. To solve this problem, we are required to discover new digital actuation technologies for taste and smell. The authors of this book have experimented on developing digital actuation devices for several years. This book will provide a complete overview of the importance of digitizing taste and smell, prior works, proposed technologies by the authors, other state of the art research, advantages and limitations of the proposed methods, and future applications. We expect digital taste and smell technologies will revolutionize the field of multisensory augmented reality and open up new interaction possibilities in different disciplines such as Human Computer Interaction, Communication, and Augmented and Virtual Reality.

'Life Kitchen is a celebration of food' Lauren, Sunderland 'The recipes are just really simple, really easy and delicious' Carolyn, Newcastle 'His book is better than a bunch of flowers because it's going to last forever' Gillian, Sunderland Ryan Riley was just eighteen years old when his mum, Krista, was diagnosed with cancer. He saw first-hand the effect of her treatment but one of the most difficult things he experienced was seeing her lose her ability to enjoy food. Two years after her diagnosis, Ryan's mother died from her illness. In a bid to discover whether there was a way to bring back the pleasure of food, Ryan created Life Kitchen in his mum's memory. It offers free classes to anyone affected by cancer treatment to cook recipes that are designed specifically to overpower the dulling effect of chemotherapy on the taste buds. In Life Kitchen, Ryan shares recipes for dishes that are quick, easy, and unbelievably delicious, whether you are going through cancer treatment or not. With ingenious combinations of ingredients, often using the fifth taste, umami, to heighten and amplify the flavours, this book is bursting with recipes that will reignite the joy of taste and flavour. Recipes include: Carbonara with peas & mint Parmesan cod with salt & vinegar cucumber Roasted harissa salmon with fennel salad Miso white chocolate with frozen berries With an introduction from UCL's taste and flavour expert Professor Barry Smith, this inspiring cookbook focusses on the simple, life-enriching pleasure of eating, for everyone living with cancer and their friends and family too. 'This book is a life changer: this is not gush, but a statement of fact' Nigella Lawson

In his new book, Gordon M. Shepherd expands on the startling discovery that the brain creates the taste of wine. This approach to understanding wine's sensory experience draws on findings in neuroscience, biomechanics, human physiology, and traditional enology. Shepherd shows, just as he did in Neurogastronomy: How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters, that creating the taste of wine engages more of the brain than does any other human behavior. He clearly illustrates the scientific underpinnings of this process, along the way enhancing our enjoyment of wine. Neuroenology is the first book on wine tasting by a neuroscientist. It begins with the movements of wine through the mouth and then consults recent research to explain the function of retronasal smell and its extraordinary power in creating wine taste. Shepherd comprehensively explains how the specific sensory pathways in the cerebral cortex create the memory of wine and how language is used to identify and imprint wine characteristics. Intended for a broad audience of readers—from amateur wine drinkers to sommeliers, from casual foodies to seasoned chefs—Neuroenology shows how the emotion of pleasure is the final judge of the wine experience. It includes practical tips for a scientifically informed wine tasting and closes with a delightful account of Shepherd's experience tasting classic Bordeaux vintages with French winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet of the Chateau Petrus and Dominus Estate.

When an accident obliterated Molly Birnbaum's sense of smell, it also destroyed her dream of becoming a chef, and sent her instead upon a brave and uncertain mission to reawaken her nose. Writing with emotional honesty, intellectual curiosity, and a foodie's feel for descriptive precision, she explores the science of olfaction and pheromones, ponders Proust's madeleine and her own scent memory, and quizzes psychologists, perfumiers, and ice-cream inventors, all in an effort to overcome her condition. From cinnamon and cedarwood to bacon and her boyfriend's shirt, we follow Molly as she gradually rediscovers the scented world and captures in apt, piquant words the rich layer of life that tends to be wordless.