The Neuroscience of Taste

Did you know about 80% of taste comes from smell, and your eyes can nudge your brain toward “sweet” or “salty” before you even bite?

I sit down with Dr. Riccardo Acolla, a world famous neuroscientist who has spent his career decoding how our brains make sense of flavor. From mapping how sweetness lights up the brain to advising companies that shape the taste of everything from chocolate to plant-based burgers, Riccardo’s journey shows how deeply food connects to who we are.

Here are some snackable truths woven through the episode:

• Chip crunch is engineered to signal “fresh” and “flavor,” so sound literally seasons your food.​
• Change plate color and you can make dessert taste sweeter without adding sugar.​
• Hold your nose and apple juice becomes “orange”—your brain fills in flavor from aroma.​
• Chili heat and mint cool rely heavily on nerve sparks on the trigeminal nerve system that rewrite perception of taste.​
• Push sodium down in a food recipe, and sweetness or fat often creeps up, nutrients act like a seesaw unless you design around it.​
• Kids eat more vegetables when they help prep; participation flips curiosity into liking.​
• In the GLP‑1 Ozempic era, brain reward signals from food dim down, protein and fiber carry the day, and taste has to work smarter, not louder.

Listen in, and you may never taste the same way again.

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