Neurogastronomy : how the brain creates flavor and why it matters / Gordon M. Shepherd.

New York : Columbia University Press, [2012], ©2012.

xiii, 267 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

The revolution in smell and flavor -- Dogs, humans, and retronasal smell -- How the mouth fools the brain -- The molecules of flavor -- Making pictures of smells -- Smell receptors for smell molecules -- Forming a sensory image -- Images of smell : an "aha" moment -- A smell is like a face -- Pointillist images of smell -- Enhancing the image -- Creating, learning, and remembering smell -- Creating flavor -- Smell and flavor -- Taste and flavor -- Mouth-sense and flavor -- Seeing and flavor -- Hearing and flavor -- The muscles of flavor -- Putting it together : the human brain flavor system -- Why it matters -- Flavor and emotions : "images of desire" -- Flavor and memory : reinterpreting Proust -- Flavor and obesity -- Decisions and the neuroeconomics of flavor and nutrition -- Plasticity in the human brain flavor system -- Smell, flavor, and language -- Smell, flavor, and consciousness -- Smell and flavor in human evolution -- Why flavor matters.

Includes bibliographical references and index.