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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – LEXINGTON, KY. (Feb 6, 2018) — When stressed, most Americans turn down a carrot stick and reach for a slice of pizza. Not only does it taste good but also, for a brief moment, it makes them feel good. Scientists are exploring WHY that pizza makes you feel so good, and how the brain’s reward centers could be manipulated to keep you healthy AND happy.
Scientists and chefs from around the world will discuss this and other food-brain phenomena at the International Society of Neurogastronomy symposium.
The two-day event will be held at the University of Kentucky on March 2-3, 2018.
Both day’s events offer continuing education credit.
Neurogastronomy is an up-and-coming science that that addresses brain and behavior. Luminaries from the worlds of science, nutrition, and culinary arts will share their knowledge on a variety of topics, including the psychological influences on eating and behavior, the chemosensory properties of food and how we experience them, the role of food as medicine, and the history and evolution of flavor and flavor perception.
The symposium will feature speakers like:
- Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Chris Morris who will delve into the alchemy of bourbon flavor profiles.
- David Shields, English professor turned food historian turned heritage food advocate.
- Acclaimed pastry chef Taria Camerino, who has a form of synesthesia where she experiences all five senses as taste.
For a full list of speakers, go here.
The term Neurogastronomy was coined by Gordon Shepherd, MD, D.Phil., Professor of Neurobiology at Yale University– first in 2006 in an article in Nature and six years later in an eponymous book. While Dr. Shepherd has been interested in the concept from a research perspective, a group of neuroscientists, chefs and food scientists are enthusiastic about making it a clinical translational science, with applications in cancer, stroke, and brain injury (which can destroy the sense of taste) and diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
The day’s format differs from the typical symposium, featuring brief presentations modeled after popular TED talks and punctuated with breaks for tastings and a contest where the food prepared by nationally acclaimed chefs will be judged by patients with diabetes.
This year, there is an experiential event on Friday, Marh 2: a five-course dinner with wine pairings by world-class sommelier Renee Saunier Brewer and bourbon flavor wheel instruction by Chris Morris, Master Distiller at the Woodford Reserve, plus interdisciplinary clinical neuroscience lectures.
For more information about the symposium or to register, click here.