0:00:00.817,0:00:04.087 So I had this very interesting experience 0:00:04.111,0:00:05.261 five years ago. 0:00:06.278,0:00:09.103 You know, me and my husband,[br]we were out grocery shopping, 0:00:09.127,0:00:10.720 as we do every other day, 0:00:10.744,0:00:14.093 but this time, we found this fancy, 0:00:14.117,0:00:17.839 you know, I'm talking fair-trade,[br]I'm talking organic, 0:00:17.863,0:00:20.395 I'm talking Kenyan, single-origin coffee 0:00:20.419,0:00:22.152 that we splurged and got. 0:00:23.252,0:00:26.554 And that was when the problem[br]started already. 0:00:26.578,0:00:30.418 You know, my husband,[br]he deemed this coffee blend superior 0:00:30.442,0:00:32.831 to our regular and much cheaper coffee, 0:00:32.855,0:00:37.204 which made me imagine a life[br]based solely on fancy coffee 0:00:37.228,0:00:39.656 and I saw our household budget explode. 0:00:39.680,0:00:40.681 (Laughter) 0:00:40.705,0:00:41.855 And worse ... 0:00:43.038,0:00:46.140 I also feared that this investment[br]would be in vain. 0:00:46.164,0:00:49.680 That we wouldn't be able to notice[br]this difference after all. 0:00:51.355,0:00:55.188 Unfortunately, especially for my husband, 0:00:55.212,0:00:58.332 he had momentarily forgotten[br]that he's married to a neuroscientist 0:00:58.356,0:01:00.141 with a specialty in food science. 0:01:00.165,0:01:01.339 (Laughter) 0:01:01.363,0:01:02.536 Alright? 0:01:02.560,0:01:04.187 So without further ado, 0:01:04.211,0:01:06.428 I mean, I just put him to the test. 0:01:07.126,0:01:09.087 I set up an experiment 0:01:09.111,0:01:11.996 where I first blindfolded my husband. 0:01:12.475,0:01:13.626 (Laughter) 0:01:13.650,0:01:17.101 Then I brewed the two types of coffee 0:01:17.125,0:01:19.705 and I told him that[br]I would serve them to him 0:01:19.729,0:01:21.069 one at a time. 0:01:22.387,0:01:24.236 Now, with clear certainty, 0:01:24.260,0:01:26.678 my husband, he described[br]the first cup of coffee 0:01:26.702,0:01:27.998 as more raw and bitter. 0:01:28.022,0:01:30.752 You know, a coffee[br]that would be ideal for the mornings 0:01:30.776,0:01:34.747 with the sole purpose of terrorizing[br]the body awake by its alarming taste. 0:01:34.771,0:01:36.874 (Laughter) 0:01:36.898,0:01:39.762 The second cup of coffee,[br]on the other hand, 0:01:39.786,0:01:43.577 was both fruity and delightful. 0:01:43.601,0:01:47.668 You know, coffee that one[br]can enjoy in the evening and relax. 0:01:49.466,0:01:52.299 Little did my husband know, however, 0:01:52.323,0:01:55.648 that I hadn't actually given him[br]the two types of coffee. 0:01:55.672,0:01:58.810 I had given him the exact same[br]cup of coffee twice. 0:01:58.834,0:02:01.001 (Laughter) 0:02:01.358,0:02:03.992 And obviously, it wasn't[br]this one cup of coffee 0:02:04.016,0:02:06.960 that had suddenly gone[br]from horrible to fantastic. 0:02:07.270,0:02:11.137 No, this taste difference[br]was a product of my husband's own mind. 0:02:11.521,0:02:14.528 Of his bias in favor of the fancy coffee 0:02:14.552,0:02:17.941 that made him experience taste differences[br]that just weren't there. 0:02:19.640,0:02:24.341 Alright, so, having saved[br]our household budget, 0:02:24.365,0:02:26.048 and finishing on a very good laugh, 0:02:26.072,0:02:27.247 me especially -- 0:02:27.271,0:02:28.278 (Laughter) 0:02:28.302,0:02:31.268 I then started wondering[br]just how we could have received 0:02:31.292,0:02:34.894 two such different responses[br]from a single cup of coffee. 0:02:35.331,0:02:39.022 Why would my husband[br]make such a bold statement 0:02:39.046,0:02:43.493 at the risk of being publicly mocked[br]for the rest of his life? 0:02:43.517,0:02:45.350 (Laughter) 0:02:46.831,0:02:51.172 The striking answer is[br]that I think you would have done the same. 0:02:51.196,0:02:54.442 And that's the biggest challenge[br]in my field of science, 0:02:54.466,0:02:57.776 assessing what's reality[br]behind these answers 0:02:57.800,0:02:58.966 that we receive. 0:02:58.990,0:03:01.801 Because how are we[br]going to make food tastier 0:03:01.825,0:03:05.419 if we cannot rely on what people[br]actually say they like? 0:03:06.728,0:03:10.258 To understand, let's first have a look[br]at how we actually sense food. 0:03:10.923,0:03:13.241 When I drink a cup of coffee, 0:03:13.265,0:03:17.407 I detect this cup of coffee[br]by receptors on my body, 0:03:17.431,0:03:21.878 information which is then turned[br]into activated neurons in my brain. 0:03:22.570,0:03:25.300 Wavelengths of light[br]are converted to colors. 0:03:25.324,0:03:29.459 Molecules in the liquid[br]are detected by receptors in my mouth, 0:03:29.483,0:03:32.804 and categorized as one[br]of five basic tastes. 0:03:33.266,0:03:37.496 That's salty, sour,[br]bitter, sweet and umami. 0:03:38.433,0:03:41.734 Molecules in the air[br]are detected by receptors in my nose 0:03:41.758,0:03:43.292 and converted to odors. 0:03:43.704,0:03:48.077 And ditto for touch, for temperature,[br]for sound and more. 0:03:48.394,0:03:52.252 All this information is detected[br]by my receptors 0:03:52.276,0:03:55.545 and converted into signals[br]between neurons in my brain. 0:03:55.569,0:04:00.456 Information which is then[br]woven together and integrated, 0:04:00.480,0:04:03.331 so that my brain recognizes 0:04:03.355,0:04:09.112 that yes, I just had a cup of coffee,[br]and yes, I liked it. 0:04:09.763,0:04:11.739 And only then, 0:04:11.763,0:04:14.747 after all this neuron heavy lifting, 0:04:14.771,0:04:18.036 do we consciously experience[br]this cup of coffee. 0:04:18.988,0:04:22.922 And this is now where we have[br]a very common misconception. 0:04:23.473,0:04:27.004 People tend to think[br]that what we experience consciously 0:04:27.028,0:04:30.218 must then be an absolute[br]true reflection of reality. 0:04:30.588,0:04:32.302 But as you just heard, 0:04:32.326,0:04:35.842 there are many stages[br]of neural interpretation 0:04:35.866,0:04:40.371 in between the physical item[br]and the conscious experience of it. 0:04:40.395,0:04:42.514 Which means that sometimes, 0:04:42.538,0:04:46.341 this conscious experience is not really[br]reflecting that reality at all. 0:04:46.720,0:04:48.920 Like what happened to my husband. 0:04:49.808,0:04:53.950 That's because some physical stimuli[br]may just be so weak 0:04:53.974,0:04:58.347 that they just can't break that barrier[br]to enter our conscious mind, 0:04:58.371,0:05:00.253 while the information that does 0:05:00.277,0:05:04.363 may get twisted on its way there[br]by our hidden biases. 0:05:04.824,0:05:08.995 And people, they have a lot of biases. 0:05:11.649,0:05:14.181 Yes, if you're sitting there[br]right now, thinking ... 0:05:15.760,0:05:18.776 you could probably have done[br]better than my husband, 0:05:18.800,0:05:22.347 you could probably have assessed[br]those coffees correctly, 0:05:22.371,0:05:25.180 then you're actually[br]suffering from a bias. 0:05:26.116,0:05:28.585 A bias called the bias blind spot. 0:05:28.609,0:05:33.415 Our tendency to see ourselves[br]as less biased than other people. 0:05:33.717,0:05:34.907 (Laughter) 0:05:34.931,0:05:36.424 And yeah, we can even be biased 0:05:36.448,0:05:38.415 about the biases that we're biased about. 0:05:38.439,0:05:39.440 (Laughter) 0:05:39.464,0:05:41.588 Not trying to make this any easier. 0:05:42.270,0:05:46.896 A bias that we know in the food industry[br]is the courtesy bias. 0:05:47.619,0:05:50.032 This is a bias where we give an opinion 0:05:50.056,0:05:53.711 which is considered socially acceptable, 0:05:53.735,0:05:56.400 but it's certainly not[br]our own opinion, right? 0:05:57.575,0:06:00.130 And I'm challenged by this[br]as a food researcher, 0:06:00.154,0:06:05.252 because when people say they like[br]my new sugar-reduced milkshake, 0:06:05.276,0:06:06.458 do they now? 0:06:06.482,0:06:07.537 (Laughter) 0:06:07.561,0:06:09.910 Or are they saying they like it 0:06:09.934,0:06:12.915 because they know I'm listening[br]and they want to please me? 0:06:13.544,0:06:16.768 Or maybe they just to seem[br]fit and healthy in my ears. 0:06:18.115,0:06:19.718 I wouldn't know. 0:06:19.742,0:06:24.355 But worse, they wouldn't[br]even know themselves. 0:06:25.348,0:06:26.705 Even trained food assessors, 0:06:26.729,0:06:29.300 and that's people who have been[br]explicitly taught 0:06:29.324,0:06:33.451 to disentangle the sense of smell[br]and the sense of taste, 0:06:33.475,0:06:36.582 may still be biased[br]to evaluate products sweeter 0:06:36.606,0:06:38.139 if they contain vanilla. 0:06:38.455,0:06:39.605 Why? 0:06:39.978,0:06:43.128 Well, it's certainly not[br]because vanilla actually tastes sweet. 0:06:44.510,0:06:48.466 It's because even these[br]professionals are human, 0:06:48.490,0:06:51.720 and have eaten lot of desserts, like us, 0:06:51.744,0:06:55.239 and have therefore learned to associate[br]sweetness and vanilla. 0:06:56.056,0:06:59.373 So taste and smell[br]and other sensory information 0:06:59.397,0:07:02.484 is inextricably entangled[br]in our conscious mind. 0:07:02.508,0:07:05.434 So on one hand, we can actually use this. 0:07:05.458,0:07:07.927 We can use these conscious experiences, 0:07:07.951,0:07:12.220 use this data, exploit it[br]by adding vanilla instead of sugar 0:07:12.244,0:07:13.844 to sweeten our products. 0:07:14.823,0:07:17.149 But on the other hand, 0:07:17.173,0:07:18.760 with these conscious evaluations, 0:07:18.784,0:07:19.982 I still wouldn't know 0:07:20.006,0:07:22.871 whether people actually liked[br]that sugar-reduced milkshake. 0:07:24.006,0:07:25.791 So how do we get around this problem? 0:07:25.815,0:07:28.077 How do we actually assess what's reality 0:07:28.101,0:07:30.736 behind these conscious food evaluations? 0:07:30.760,0:07:34.935 The key is to remove the barrier[br]of the conscious mind 0:07:34.959,0:07:38.231 and instead target the information[br]in the brain directly. 0:07:39.015,0:07:40.316 And it turns out 0:07:40.340,0:07:43.407 our brain holds a lot[br]of fascinating secrets. 0:07:43.872,0:07:48.940 Our brain constantly receives[br]sensory information from our entire body, 0:07:48.964,0:07:51.321 most of which we don't even[br]become aware of, 0:07:51.345,0:07:54.265 like the taste information[br]that I constantly receive 0:07:54.289,0:07:56.158 from my gastrointestinal tract. 0:07:56.647,0:08:00.718 And my brain will also act[br]on all this sensory information. 0:08:01.274,0:08:04.710 It will alter my behavior[br]without my knowledge, 0:08:04.734,0:08:07.990 and it can increase[br]the diameter of my pupils 0:08:08.014,0:08:09.974 if I experience something I really like. 0:08:10.355,0:08:13.410 And increase my sweat production[br]ever so slightly 0:08:13.434,0:08:15.301 if that emotion was intense. 0:08:16.300,0:08:17.990 And with brain scans, 0:08:18.014,0:08:21.280 we can now assess[br]this information in the brain. 0:08:22.021,0:08:24.469 Specifically, I have used[br]a brain-scanning technique 0:08:24.493,0:08:26.846 called electroencephalography, 0:08:26.870,0:08:28.703 or "EEG" in short, 0:08:28.727,0:08:32.672 which involves wearing a cap[br]studded with electrodes, 0:08:32.696,0:08:35.164 128 in my case. 0:08:35.957,0:08:39.568 Each electrode then measures[br]the electrical activity of the brain 0:08:39.592,0:08:42.193 with precision down to the millisecond. 0:08:43.640,0:08:45.680 The problem is, however, 0:08:45.704,0:08:48.133 it's not just the brain[br]that's electrically active, 0:08:48.157,0:08:50.895 it's also the rest of the body[br]as well as the environment 0:08:50.919,0:08:53.633 that contains a lot[br]of electrical activity all the time. 0:08:53.657,0:08:55.045 To do my research, 0:08:55.069,0:08:58.069 I therefore need[br]to minimize all this noise. 0:08:58.411,0:09:01.894 So I ask my participants[br]to do a number of things here. 0:09:02.427,0:09:03.586 First off, 0:09:03.610,0:09:06.915 I ask them to rest their head[br]in a chin rest, 0:09:06.939,0:09:09.360 to avoid too much muscle movement. 0:09:09.384,0:09:13.379 I also ask them to, meanwhile,[br]stare at the center of a computer monitor 0:09:13.403,0:09:16.172 to avoid too much[br]eye movements and eye blinks. 0:09:16.196,0:09:18.704 And I can't even have swallowing, 0:09:18.728,0:09:23.320 so I ask my participants[br]to stick the tongue out of their mouth 0:09:23.344,0:09:25.352 over a glass bowl, 0:09:25.376,0:09:29.576 and then I constantly let[br]taste stimuli onto the tongue, 0:09:29.600,0:09:31.704 which then drip off into this bowl. 0:09:31.728,0:09:33.212 (Laughter) 0:09:33.236,0:09:37.379 And then, just to complete[br]this wonderful picture, 0:09:37.403,0:09:39.990 I also provide my participants with a bib, 0:09:40.014,0:09:43.117 available in either pink[br]or blue, as they please. 0:09:43.141,0:09:47.228 (Laughter) 0:09:47.252,0:09:49.366 Looks like a normal[br]eating experience, right? 0:09:49.390,0:09:50.540 (Laughter) 0:09:51.585,0:09:53.005 No, obviously not. 0:09:54.546,0:09:55.895 And worse, 0:09:55.919,0:09:59.260 I can't even control[br]what my participants are thinking about, 0:09:59.284,0:10:01.395 so I need to repeat this taste procedure 0:10:01.419,0:10:02.569 multiple times. 0:10:02.958,0:10:05.789 Maybe the first time,[br]they're thinking about the free lunch 0:10:05.813,0:10:07.974 that I provide for participating, 0:10:07.998,0:10:11.296 or maybe the second time,[br]they're thinking about Christmas coming up 0:10:11.320,0:10:14.220 and what to get for Mom[br]this year, you know. 0:10:15.109,0:10:19.236 But common for each response[br]is the response to the taste. 0:10:19.260,0:10:22.527 So I repeat this taste[br]procedure multiple times. 0:10:22.871,0:10:24.720 Sixty, in fact. 0:10:25.291,0:10:26.911 And then I average the responses, 0:10:26.935,0:10:29.839 because responses unrelated[br]to taste will average out. 0:10:30.307,0:10:31.958 And using this method, 0:10:31.982,0:10:34.506 we and other labs, 0:10:34.530,0:10:38.033 have investigated how long a time[br]it takes from "food lands on our tongue" 0:10:38.057,0:10:41.036 until our brain has figured out[br]which taste it's experiencing. 0:10:41.639,0:10:44.853 Turns out this occurs within the first[br]already 100 milliseconds, 0:10:44.877,0:10:47.853 that's about half a second[br]before we even become aware of it. 0:10:48.268,0:10:50.080 And next up, we also investigated 0:10:50.104,0:10:53.903 the taste difference between sugar[br]and artificial sweeteners 0:10:53.927,0:10:56.203 that in our setup taste extremely similar. 0:10:56.563,0:10:58.594 In fact, they tasted so similar 0:10:58.618,0:11:02.197 that half my participants[br]could only barely tell the taste apart, 0:11:02.221,0:11:04.546 while the other half simply couldn't. 0:11:05.015,0:11:06.776 But amazingly, 0:11:06.800,0:11:09.926 if we looked across[br]the entire group of participants, 0:11:09.950,0:11:13.751 we saw that their brains[br]definitely could tell the taste apart. 0:11:14.895,0:11:17.754 So with EEG and other[br]brain-scanning devices 0:11:17.778,0:11:19.938 and other physiological measures -- 0:11:19.962,0:11:21.133 sweat and pupil size -- 0:11:21.157,0:11:23.172 we have new gateways to our brain. 0:11:23.625,0:11:27.316 Gateways that will help us[br]remove the barrier of the conscious mind 0:11:27.340,0:11:29.523 to see through the biases of people 0:11:29.547,0:11:32.327 and possibly even capture[br]subconscious taste differences. 0:11:32.689,0:11:37.000 And that's because we can now measure[br]people's very first response to food 0:11:37.024,0:11:38.841 before they've become conscious of it, 0:11:38.865,0:11:42.031 and before they've started rationalizing[br]why they like it or not. 0:11:42.476,0:11:44.651 We can measure people's[br]facial expressions, 0:11:44.675,0:11:47.172 we can measure where they're looking, 0:11:47.196,0:11:49.196 we can measure their sweat response, 0:11:49.220,0:11:51.620 we can measure their brain response. 0:11:52.030,0:11:54.093 And with all these measures, 0:11:54.117,0:11:56.455 we are going to be able[br]to create tastier foods, 0:11:56.479,0:11:58.876 because we can measure[br]whether people actually like 0:11:58.900,0:12:00.637 that sugar-reduced milkshake. 0:12:00.661,0:12:04.764 And we can create healthier foods[br]without compromising taste, 0:12:04.788,0:12:07.561 because we can measure the response[br]to different sweeteners 0:12:07.585,0:12:10.688 and find the sweetener that gives[br]the response that's more similar 0:12:10.712,0:12:12.005 to the response from sugar. 0:12:12.029,0:12:14.704 And furthermore, we can just help[br]create healthier foods, 0:12:14.728,0:12:17.695 because we can help understand[br]how we actually sense food 0:12:17.719,0:12:18.986 in the first place. 0:12:19.533,0:12:22.200 Which we know surprisingly little about. 0:12:22.589,0:12:25.920 For example, we know[br]that there are those five basic tastes, 0:12:25.944,0:12:28.187 but we strongly suspect[br]that there are more, 0:12:28.211,0:12:33.188 and in fact, using our EEG setup,[br]we found evidence that fat, 0:12:33.212,0:12:35.799 besides being sensed[br]by its texture and smell, 0:12:35.823,0:12:37.092 is also tasted. 0:12:37.553,0:12:40.934 Meaning that fat could be[br]this new sixth basic taste. 0:12:41.522,0:12:45.879 And if we figure out[br]how our brain recognizes fat and sugar, 0:12:45.903,0:12:47.220 and I'm just dreaming here, 0:12:47.244,0:12:48.736 but could we then one day 0:12:48.760,0:12:52.798 create a milkshake with zero calories[br]that tastes just like the real deal? 0:12:54.894,0:12:57.172 Or maybe we figure out that we can't, 0:12:57.196,0:12:59.766 because we subconsciously detect calories 0:12:59.790,0:13:02.574 via our receptors[br]in our gastrointestinal tract. 0:13:03.137,0:13:04.537 The future will show. 0:13:05.978,0:13:08.803 Our conscious experience of food 0:13:08.827,0:13:13.791 is just the tip of the iceberg[br]of our total sensation of food. 0:13:13.815,0:13:16.122 And by studying this total sensation, 0:13:16.146,0:13:19.022 conscious and subconscious alike, 0:13:19.046,0:13:23.555 I truly believe that we can make[br]tastier and healthier foods for all. 0:13:23.579,0:13:24.730 Thank you. 0:13:24.754,0:13:29.920 (Applause)