Chocolate and music? Sounds like a good combination
As we all know, music has the power to evoke certain emotions. But have you ever heard about music having an impact on your sense of taste? Several researchers are studying the relationship between sound and taste. So, can music really change the taste of chocolate? Felipe Reinoso Carvalho and Raymond van Ee tell us more about it.
Creamy or bitter chocolate
Felipe Reinoso Carvalho works as a sound engineer at the Free University of Brussels and the Catholic University of Leuven. Together with Charles Spence, professor at Oxford University, he studied how music can determine the way you taste.
A number of test subjects got to wear headphones and tasted two identical chocolates. For every chocolate, a different style of music was played: “creamy”, soft music and more rough, loud music. Results showed that a series of soft notes could indeed make a piece of chocolate taste creamier. Short, sharp notes on the other hand made the same chocolate taste sharper or bitter.
A human evolution
Biophysicist Raymond van Ee, professor at Radboud University and researcher at Philips Eindhoven, is also looking into this phenomenon. He describes it as follows: our head is filled with different compartments, neurons, that are interconnected. One way or another, humans have evolved in such a way that the neurons for taste and sound are now directly interacting.
Of course, further research is needed, but things such as personalized music boxes (that manipulate the sense of taste) are considered possible next steps.
Put on some music and… Relax!
Our advice? Pull open a can of Ovidias chocolates, put on your favourite song, and… Relax! Ordering chocolates online is very easy via our webshop.
Sources:
- http://www.demorgen.be/wetenschap/chocolade-smaakt-lekkerder-bij-een-zacht-muziekje-be76a0da/
- http://www.demorgen.be/binnenland/-muziek-beinvloedt-de-smaak-van-chocolade-b10c253f/
