Food, the brain & sensory illusions | Alejandro Salgado Montejo | TEDxOxford

Summary

El script explora cómo el cerebro integra diversas sensaciones para comprender y disfrutar del mundo que nos rodea. Se destaca la importancia de la integración sensorial y cómo nuestro entendimiento de la realidad puede ser influenciado por factores como el color, el sonido y la forma de los objetos. El hablante comparte su pasión por la psicología y la neurociencia, y cómo estos campos de estudio se combinan con la gastronomía para crear experiencias culinarias únicas. Además, se discuten conceptos como el 'bouba/kiki' y cómo las formas y los colores pueden predecir y alterar nuestras percepciones de sabores y texturas. La charla concluye con una reflexión sobre cómo el diseño y la ciencia sensorial pueden mejorar nuestras vidas y cómo podemos utilizar estos conocimientos para diseñar alimentos más saludables y deliciosos.

Takeaways

• 🧠 La idea de entender el comportamiento humano llevó al narrador a la psicología después de estudiar economía y matemáticas.
• 🌟 El trabajo en la integración sensorial es importante porque vivimos en un mundo de incertidumbre y la evolución no es perfecta.
• 🍽️ Colaboración con Sean Michelle, un chef que utiliza métodos inspirados en la neurociencia para crear platos y se realiza investigación con él.
• 🧐 La investigación también se lleva a cabo con Carlos, un colega psicólogo experimental, para entender cómo las emociones y los sentidos se comunican.
• 🌈 La percepción de los colores puede influir en nuestras asociaciones con los sabores, como el ejemplo de las nubes que sugieren sabores según su color.
• 🔗 La conexión entre los sentidos es fuerte; el cerebro no trabaja solo con una sensación a la vez, sino que integra múltiples sentidos.
• 🎰 El cerebro 'apuesta' al hacer predicciones basadas en experiencias pasadas para mejorar nuestras experiencias futuras.
• 🏆 El placer y el dolor son medidas clave para el cerebro, ayudando a determinar qué es beneficioso o perjudicial para nosotros.
• 🍫 Una pequeña manipulación en una imagen, como el brillo y la luminosidad, puede hacer que un chocolate parezca más amargo.
• 🔁 El concepto de 'bouba' y 'kiki' muestra cómo las formas pueden estar asociadas con ciertos sabores, olores y texturas.
• 🎼 Los sonidos de diferentes tonos pueden intensificar o disminuir la percepción de ciertos sabores, como el amargor.
• 🌍 El experimento con frutas colombianas demostró que las percepciones sensoriales son universales, independientemente de si las personas conocen las frutas o no.
• 📦 La influencia de la embalaje y la presentación en cómo percibimos los alimentos antes de incluso probarlos.
• 🎨 La importancia del diseño y la estética en la percepción de los alimentos, como el plato inspirado en Kandinsky que se veía más agradable.

Q & A

¿Cómo terminó trabajando en el campo de la comprensión del comportamiento humano?

Inicialmente estaba estudiando economía, pero después de hacer mucha matemática, me di cuenta de que quería aplicarla para entender el comportamiento humano. Me encontré con la psicología y comencé a trabajar en la comprensión de las emociones y luego con Charles Spence, en la relación entre los sentidos y la percepción.

¿Por qué es importante la integración sensorial en el cerebro?

La integración sensorial es importante porque vivimos en un sistema incierto y el cerebro debe adaptarse y utilizar múltiples sentidos para obtener una mejor comprensión del mundo que nos rodea.

¿Cómo es la relación entre los sentidos y la percepción del sabor?

La percepción del sabor no solo está relacionada con el gusto, sino que también puede estar influenciada por factores visuales, textura, temperatura y peso, entre otros. El cerebro integra esta información para crear una experiencia sensorial más rica.

¿Cómo afecta el color a nuestra percepción del sabor de los alimentos?

El color puede influir en nuestra percepción del sabor, por ejemplo, un color rosa podría asociarse a un sabor dulce, mientras que un color verde o amarillo podría sugerir un sabor más ácido.

¿Cómo se relaciona la forma con la experiencia sensorial de los alimentos?

La forma puede tener un impacto significativo en la experiencia sensorial. Por ejemplo, las formas que evocan asociaciones con ciertos sabores o texturas pueden hacer que los alimentos parezcan tener un sabor específico incluso antes de probarlos.

¿Por qué es útil entender la conexión entre los sentidos para mejorar nuestras experiencias?

Al entender cómo los sentidos se conectan, podemos diseñar experiencias que maximicen la satisfacción y la salud, como alimentos que combinen de manera efectiva texturas, sabores y olores para mejorar su palatabilidad y atractiva.

¿Cómo puede la música influir en la percepción del sabor de una bebida como la cerveza?

La música con tono bajo puede hacer que una bebida parezca más amarga, mientras que la música con tono alto puede hacer que parezca más dulce. Esto se debe a la conexión entre el sentido auditivo y el gustativo en el cerebro.

¿Cómo se relacionan los colores con la percepción de la intensidad del sabor?

Los colores pueden alterar nuestra percepción de la intensidad del sabor. Por ejemplo, el rojo ha demostrado tener un impacto en la capacidad matemática y en la fuerza motora, y puede ser asociado con sabores más intensos.

¿Qué es el concepto de 'Bouba' y 'Kiki' y cómo se relaciona con la percepción sensorial?

Bouba y Kiki son formas que se asocian con ciertos sabores, olores y texturas. La teoría sugiere que ciertas formas visuales evocan asociaciones con experiencias sensoriales específicas, lo que puede influir en cómo percibimos el sabor de los alimentos.

¿Cómo puede la ciencia sensorial ayudar en la aceptación de alimentos no tradicionales en una cultura?

La ciencia sensorial puede utilizarse para diseñar alimentos no tradicionales de una manera que se alineen con las expectativas sensoriales de una cultura, facilitando su aceptación. Por ejemplo, usando formas y colores asociados con sabores positivos para alimentos que normalmente no serían populares.

¿Por qué es importante considerar la experiencia sensorial al diseñar un producto alimenticio?

La experiencia sensorial es crucial ya que influye en nuestra percepción del sabor, calidad y placer del alimento. Un diseño que tenga en cuenta la integración de los sentidos puede aumentar la satisfacción del consumidor y la aceptación de nuevos productos o sabores.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 La importancia de la integración sensorial en la percepción

El primer párrafo aborda la transición del estudio de la economía a la psicología, con el interés en aplicar la matemática al entendimiento del comportamiento humano. Se destaca la importancia de la integración sensorial y cómo el cerebro humano, a pesar de ser un órgano preciso, tiene que adaptarse y trabajar con información inexacta para construir la realidad. Se menciona la colaboración con colegas y la aplicación de métodos inspirados en la neurociencia en la creación de alimentos, así como la investigación de cómo los sentidos se comunican entre sí.

05:01

🌈 Los sentidos y la experiencia del placer y el dolor

Este párrafo explora cómo el cerebro utiliza múltiples sentidos para mejorar la precisión de sus predicciones y cómo esto enriquece nuestras experiencias. También discute cómo el cerebro mide el placer y el dolor, y cómo estos aspectos influyen en nuestras decisiones y preferencias. Se habla de la influencia de factores como el color y el sonido en la percepción de sabores y cómo estos pueden ser utilizados para mejorar la vida diaria y la experiencia del consumo de alimentos.

10:02

🍫 La conexión entre los sentidos y la experiencia del gusto

El tercer párrafo se enfoca en la complejidad de la experiencia del gusto, que va más allá del sabor y el aroma para incluir textura, temperatura y color. Se cuestiona dónde se encuentra el 'gusto' en el cerebro y se sugiere que podría estar distribuido en varias áreas sensoriales. Se describe una investigación que compara la percepción sensorial entre personas de Colombia y del Reino Unido utilizando frutas colombianas, y cómo los resultados indican que las experiencias sensoriales son similares, independientemente de la cultura.

15:03

🎨 La influencia del diseño y la ciencia sensorial en la comida

El último párrafo discute cómo el diseño y la ciencia sensorial pueden influir en la aceptación de alimentos, como los insectos, en culturas occidentales. Se explora la idea de utilizar formas y diseños para comunicar y cambiar la percepción de los sabores, y cómo esto puede aplicarse a la creación de alimentos más saludables y agradables. Se menciona el éxito de Heineken como un ejemplo de cómo el diseño y la ciencia sensorial pueden mejorar la experiencia del consumo y contribuir al éxito de una marca.

Keywords

💡Comportamiento humano

El comportamiento humano se refiere a las acciones y respuestas de las personas en diferentes situaciones. En el video, el hablante menciona su interés en aplicar la matemática al entendimiento del comportamiento humano, lo que es central para el tema del video.

💡Psicólogo experimental

Un psicólogo experimental es alguien que realiza experimentos controlados para estudiar el comportamiento y la mente humana. Carlos, mencionado en el video, es un psicólogo experimental que trabaja en equipo para entender cómo funciona el cerebro y cómo se comunican los sentidos.

💡Integración sensorial

La integración sensorial es el proceso por el cual el cerebro combina la información de los diferentes sentidos para formar una percepción unificada del mundo. El hablante destaca la importancia de la integración sensorial en la adaptación del cerebro a un sistema incierto.

💡Compensación cerebral

La compensación cerebral hace referencia a cómo el cerebro ajusta su interpretación de la información sensorial para crear una experiencia coherente. El video discute cómo el cerebro 'apuesta' sobre la realidad basándose en la información de los sentidos y cómo esto puede llevar a errores pero también a una mejor comprensión del mundo.

💡Sensoriología

La sensoriología es el estudio de cómo los sentidos funcionan y cómo la información sensorial influye en la percepción y la experiencia. El video explora cómo la sensoriología puede ser aplicada en áreas como la gastronomía y el diseño para mejorar la experiencia del usuario.

💡Correspondencia sensorial

La correspondencia sensorial es la idea de que ciertos estímulos sensoriales, como colores o formas, están asociados con experiencias sensoriales específicas, como sabores o olores. El video menciona cómo la correspondencia sensorial puede influir en la percepción del sabor de los alimentos.

💡Diseño de experiencias

El diseño de experiencias implica la creación de entornos o productos que maximizan la interacción y la satisfacción del usuario a través de la integración de múltiples sentidos. El hablante sugiere que el diseño de experiencias puede ser una herramienta poderosa para mejorar la vida cotidiana.

💡Bouba/Kiki

Bouba/Kiki es un fenómeno psicológico que describe cómo las formas geométricas se asocian con ciertos sonidos o palabras. En el video, se utiliza como ejemplo de cómo las formas pueden influir en la percepción del sabor y cómo esto puede aplicarse en el diseño de productos.

💡Influencias culturales

Las influencias culturales son las diferencias en las percepciones y preferencias que pueden existir entre diferentes grupos culturales. El video discute cómo las influencias culturales pueden afectar la percepción del sabor y cómo esto se puede tener en cuenta en la creación de productos globales.

💡Neuro gastronomía

La neuro gastronomía es la combinación de la gastronomía y la neurociencia para estudiar cómo el cerebro procesa la información gustativa y cómo esto influye en la experiencia del sabor. El video menciona a Sean Michelle, un chef que utiliza métodos inspirados en la neurociencia para crear sus platos.

💡Sensoriología aplicada

La sensoriología aplicada es el uso de conocimientos sensoriales para mejorar productos o experiencias. El video explora cómo la sensoriología aplicada puede ayudar a resolver problemas como la aceptación cultural de alimentos no tradicionales, como los insectos.

Highlights

The speaker transitioned from economics to psychology to apply math to understanding human behavior.

The importance of sensory integration in adapting to an uncertain system.

Working with a team that includes a French-Columbian chef applying neuroscience to food.

The brain's attempt to integrate multiple senses to create a comprehensive understanding of experiences.

The analogy of the Nazca lines in Peru to the complexity of the brain and sensory perception.

Colors can influence perceived flavors, as demonstrated by the changing color of the Christchurch meadow.

The concept of 'bouba' and 'kiki' shapes influencing taste perceptions.

The brain's use of past experiences to predict and compensate for sensory input.

The impact of color on cognitive performance, such as math tests and physical strength.

The idea that taste is not just flavor and smell, but also includes visual, tactile, and auditory elements.

Experiments with Colombian and UK participants on the universality of sensory experiences with unfamiliar fruits.

The potential for sensory science to influence food design and marketing across cultures.

The challenge of getting Western populations to adopt insect-based diets using sensory science.

The influence of packaging design, including shape, color, and texture, on taste perception before consumption.

The creation of a Kandinsky-inspired dish and its increased appeal due to design and balance.

The conclusion that playing with the senses is the best way to create and discover new experiences.

Transcripts

so I really loved the idea of

understanding behavior and I ended up in

this field by accident I was actually

studying economics and well basically

after I did a lot of math I realized

that I really wanted to apply that math

to understanding human behavior and then

I bumped into psychology and I said oh

this is interesting and I started

working on that and then basically I

worked on understanding or less emotions

and then I met Charles Spence on Sat all

these sensory stuff is awesome I want to

work on this

I want understand the relationship

between the two so today I want to talk

about why I think the world is inside

our brain that is very constant compared

to the world that comes into our brain

we live in a world of physical and

chemical constants that is actually very

accurate compared to what comes in here

it's still very good evolution has a

very good job but it's not perfect and

so we live in a in an uncertain system

that's that's why sensory integration

which is a big topic today is so

important that's why the brain has to

adapt get friends talk communicate and

try to get a better a better idea of

this world so I don't worked alone I

work with a team of people so I work

with Sean Michelle who's French

Columbian chef who does amazing and

crazy food and just basically applies

neuroscience inspired methods to create

his food and then we do research on it

with him to see not of him sometimes but

not generally of the food and with

Carlos who's my other colleague who

basically is another experiment

psychologist so we basically work

together trying to understand through

basics through everyday things like food

or film or that sort of thing how the

brain works and how senses communicate

to each other so this is a picture of a

condor in the Nazca lines in Peru which

is a place I really love and that really

shocked me when I went there and so I

think that the brain and especially

the census is a lot like the Nazca lines

they were discovered by accident and you

have to look in them look at them from a

distance to actually get an idea of

what's going on you have to go there you

have to go up in an airplane and see wow

these 114 square meter lines that look

like birds and monkeys and spiders are

there and you think why did they do that

what's what's there and you can't see

them if you walk around on that desert

you have to go up in the plane and say

oh there's something there so what the

brains the same thing if you're walking

around you might think your experience

is through your senses and you might get

a theory on it you say oh when I buy the

burger I get that taste on it and say

all this works this is good right but

the way it actually works we have to

step a bit out and say oh there's a lot

to it so that's also what I'm going to

talk about today so you see this photo

of the Christchurch meadow it's a bit

weird right tackle delegates something

changing colour so you think about the

colours are moving there and I asked you

well what sort of flavours would you

think those clouds have right you say

okay this guy's crazy I'm not arguing

there but basically what what flavors do

you think if the colour pink is it is it

sweet or is it sour right you'd say well

maybe it's sweet right and and would

something green or yellow would it be

small more sour than something pink

you'd say well maybe yeah and a lot of

us will agree most of us will agree so

that's what I work on

that's what Sean Michelle was sitting in

row 34 either I know where you are so

don't try anything crazy is working on

as well what we're trying to understand

is how we can connect a color or a

flavor or a smell or even a texture to

each other what's going on there so we

do have a very powerful interesting

sensory brain we have a brain that is

connected to many senses and that talks

to them and they talk to it so that's

why I think that the world is inside of

us because the world out there

the

perfect awesomely constructed

physical-chemical world out there cannot

be experienced perfectly by our brain so

he compensates one of the ways he

compensates is by gambling yes how does

it gamble it goes and says I think that

must be read more or less so he says it

might not be exactly read but we're

gonna saves read and see how good it

works sometimes we make mistakes so the

brain compensates for that for that next

time right but the world is much more

complex than that so it's not only about

what color it is but then the brain says

ok that's going to taste really good how

do you know oh because last time we had

a an ice-cream of that color that

smelled like that that was as heavy as

that in that sort of packaging all that

was great so that's that sounds really

good so the brain does to reduce noise

to reduce interference is to say ok I'm

going to use my smell and my vision and

maybe even my touch or the temperature

to get all that data to make sure that

my prediction is better than just one

sense so that how that's how it works so

really every time you're out there in

the world tasting something kissing

someone or doing lots of other stuff

your brain is trying to integrate as

many of the of the senses possible to

make it a wonderful experience and to

understand the experience because in the

end a good experience is an experience

that the brain can understand the other

thing it does as I was saying is to

measure pleasure and pain we have to

know we're screwing up basically so it's

easy with basic things like if you're

cutting with scissors and you don't

notice you're cutting your finger your

brain will tell you don't cut that it's

not good a little bit to the right right

hopefully but again with more complex

things it's not so easy right so real

love how do you how do you explain that

that's so complicated right and then why

do you prefer one product over another

or why do you like that flavor instead

of the other how does that work so the

brain is measuring

how much reward something gives you as

storing it and saying I was okay next

time we're gonna take this information

into account when you go gambling in the

casino because we know that red pays

well and actually red pay so well so I'm

stepping in a really big red dot here

right and that has a red color and red

has been shown to by us our cognition it

can can it can alter how good you are in

math when you're taking a test actually

makes you worse so don't wear red and it

can also alter how much strength motor

output you get when you're running for

example so it's how it's really crazy

how just random things are simple things

like colors or smells can actually

enhance our lives and change our brain

thinks the world is and or can be so

let's let's let's talk about food and I

think that after I talk a little bit

more you'll all get hungry and I'm sorry

about that but well maybe you can all go

out and taste food in a different way so

which chocolate looks more bitter the

one on my right or the one in my left

which one is it more bitter so he's

saying that one that one there that one

there that looks much more bitter right

but it's the same picture I took it's

exactly the same one but something

happened right so I went into Photoshop

I tweaked it a bit and then we say okay

that one's more bitter what's going on

there why can we say just by the change

in lightning and brightness that that

chocolate looks more bitter all because

her senses are getting connected to each

other they're communicating so our brain

never works alone so basically these

guys are called boob on Kiki some of you

might know about them but the awesome

thing about boob on Kiki

is that they're actually shapes that

that have a lot of meaning basically we

know that one of them is booba and the

other one is Kiki and these shapes are

matched to certain flavors certain

smells even certain texture experiences

and everything we work on is based on

this idea that the brain is Cora has a

correspondence in another sense

now we get

so that sound is a very low pitch very

strong sound right so if you eat

chocolate with that sound you'll get an

even more bitter chocolate than if you

eat it with this sound why does that

happen again basically because the way

we think the world works might not be

the way the world works so because we're

walking through that crazy Nazca desert

we can't see the lines so we can't

really tell what's there so everything

just looks like rock rock rock rock dirt

like random trees thing that survived

the desert so that's that's basically

what happened so we say when you ask

someone Oh what does that taste like

you say I taste bitter sour or whatever

but are you thinking oh when they are

asking me tastes are they asking me

smell and flavor just flavor just smell

are they asking me about the texture of

the part are they asking me about the

temperature of the product are they

asking me about how the color of the

product influences the way I decide what

it tastes like in a non conscious way of

course so in the end if we understand

this better we can actually enjoy our

lives better so if you're thinking about

a beautiful boy or girl and you want to

say oh wait I want to cook something

awesome and Surprise them so we don't

have to be awesome chefs like Sean

Michelle to actually cook an interesting

dinner we have to combine the senses

properly so it's not about more it's

about better thinking about what how can

i enhance sweetness with high pitched

sounds or bitterness with low pitch

sounds so we would with a Brit it with a

British beer tastes better with low

pitch music or high pitch music why are

British beers warmer than Belgian beers

is it just because it's British pride or

is it because it's actually theirs or

not there's a logic behind it we say oh

it

because maybe it helps in some way to

enhance the flavor of the beer here so

that those are the questions we could

ask to create a much better experience

in our lives as to why and what is

influencer influenced so where in the

brain is taste what is taste because we

thought taste was just you take a bite

and say oh it tastes like this is flavor

right

chocolate strawberry animal sweat as in

the Bordeaux wines I'm not inventing it

today invented it so where in the brain

is taste and you think well maybe I

thought it was in the tongue but now hmm

somewhere else so the way we thought

about this and the way we tried to

answer this is taste is and has been

classically thought about as just flavor

and smell but we think it's everywhere

we think taste could be just part of

what we see part of what we touch the

weight of a dish right the sparkling of

the champagne all that is part of taste

could be part of the experience so maybe

you have more than five senses we can

even have 21 so we said well does it

work everywhere so hey why don't we go

to Columbia where I'm from Charles

actually said Charles Benson hmm you're

there you two crazy guys is called check

check if the UK people work the same

same as the Colombian people in terms of

how they experience things so we said

let's go try something really crazy not

just anything so okay let's get some

Columbian fruits so I'm really crazy

Colombian fruits and some of them not so

crazy so we get one the the the round

one there is called Lulu right the next

one is Gua now Anna which is soursop

then we have the pineapple kiss Pina

right then we get passionfruit maracuja

and then we get fake hora which I have

no idea how to say in English tried ask

no one knows so basically we took those

fruits so Charles was coming back and

forth with a bag full of popes

going through customs here and there

like what is it again that you're doing

with these things and what are they and

what's a fake horse so he's trying to

explain to everyone here like look this

is this is just fruit you know they're

like

that that's too weird so he gave it to

them blindfolded and he started testing

them and we asked them how Boober Kiki

they were so they answered how boob on

Kiki they were and they were always

asking seriously is that an actual

experiment we're like yes yes it's all

good it's all good we're serious we're

serious scientists so we got this but

what was awesome wasn't that they

actually could say boo monkey or Kiki

but the Colombians who knew the fruits

and the UK citizens who didn't know what

they were tasting and were feared that

afraid that we were gonna poison them

actually said the exact same booba or

Kiki so he said oh this is awesome so

maybe with all the marketing going crazy

trying to communicate across borders

cross culturally we could think of

something more simple than trying to

create a huge marketing campaign about

how I convinced you to buy the product

regardless if you like the taste or not

or the packaging is funky and weird and

you don't even know what it says cuz

it's in another language maybe I could

actually design something thinking of a

shape that looks like Bua for their

soursop

and a shape that looks like Kiki for the

Lulu so when someone here tastes that

they'll say oh I already knew it sour

because for some reason that shapes

makes me think of something sour so it

can actually change the way we eat it

can actually help us design food that is

healthier and that is tastier so it's

always the other kids don't like the

vegetables well why not and now we have

a big issue us as we were talking with

Sean Michelle before was oh now we need

to eat insects because they're easy to

grow and there's a lot of them it seems

so how do we get Western people to eat

insects that's what he's asking now

that's what he what he's working on

that's what he's thinking about saying

how do we get sensory science to

convince all of us that grasshoppers are

tasty and crunchy delicious things and

we don't have to cover them in chocolate

to get everyone to taste them or just

peel the chocolate off and eat the

chocolate say oh I really like

grasshopper chocolate that's what he's

thinking about

and it's awesome to think that this can

help change that and there's already

companies doing it either

empirically or by design saying oh I

know stars and pointed triangles

talk about sparkling or bitter and I

know that the happy ease in Heineken

make it a little bit sweeter so I tell

them it's bitter but not that bitter

it's a bit heavy but not that heavy it's

a bit like - so our brains I say oh it's

cool

and no wonder Heineken has won the prize

of being the most productive company in

the Netherlands twice I think it's not

all about design and sensory science of

course there's hard work behind it but

really that makes you think hmm maybe a

bit of design and a bit of neuroscience

can really change things for the better

if we know how to steer it and so we got

a little bit crazier reset or maybe how

about shape on yeah shape also changes

the way we look at things but also

changes how much how sweet or sour or

bitter something is so we get a proud

then we get sound and we get color and

we get texture and we get weight and we

get shape and we get temperature all

these things from just the packaging we

have anyone opened the product we

haven't even tasted it it's crazy so

next time you go around and say oh maybe

I'm just going to eat this imagine how

many things are involved imagine how

many crazy things are happening in your

brains and we're just walking through

the desert and we don't even know what's

going on in there so last thing I'm

gonna talk about are you hungry for a

Kandinsky so again Sean Michelle and

Carlos said oh why don't we go and go

crazy on this and say let's do be a

build a dish that looks like a Kandinsky

and guess what if you have a dish that

looks like a Kandinsky people like it

more even if they have the same

ingredient then it looks something plain

and simple and normal why oh the design

and at the balance in it so basically

the best way to create and discover is

to play with the senses thank you