Loss

I had a great little blog post all planned out.  I've recently finished this fantastic little book called Proust was a Neuroscientist.  One of the chapters talked about Virginia Woolf.  I've honestly only read a single story by her in high school so I don't remember much.  What I wanted to cover was a discussion about her search for the mind and how all these disparate elements can make up a single person.

A great read.

All of her novels seem to focus on this idea.  And to end my post, I was going to tell how her depression became so crippling that she filled her coat pockets with rocks and walked into the river to drown.  I thought it would make for an interesting little story and then I'd move on to a new topic.  I didn't think I would suddenly be hit by a tragedy of my own.

I lost a very dear friend last week.  It took several calls from various people before I could actually believe he was gone.  He was always my closest nerd friend and my gut reaction was to believe he was actually in a parallel dimension (something akin to fringe which he introduced my family to).  Tragedies are supposed to happen to people who you don't know.  It's supposed to happen to someone else.  Maybe on the news you hear of a death and you think, that's so sad.  But it's never, ever supposed to effect you.

Well I've cried till my eyes are beyond red and puffy.  And I've felt like my chest is going to collapse.  The aftermath has sent me seeking solace in others who knew him.  And we all knew him in a different way.  In each person I discover a new aspect of his personality.  Something that didn't shine as brightly when he was with me but was there all the same.

To some, he was a loving older brother.  Others saw him as a shy, yet smart student.  Others knew him as a hard worker at salt lick or an intense gamer who would pull all-nighters on w.o.w. (world of warcraft) or something of the sort.

I never thought...

To me, he was a constant presence in my life.  A rock I could always call on.  Whenever I saw a reference to star trek, he was the first one I'd text.  If I ever wanted to go see a really goofy action movie, we immediately started planning a date.  Without him, I would never have gotten into Doctor Who or Fringe.  I wouldn't have always had someone who would hang out on a wednesday night- just because we could.

I miss him so incredibly much.  The bad parts of life are supposed to happen to other people.  They're supposed to be stories of people like Virginia Woolf.  But I guess life happens to us all the same.  We suffer and grow and never forget those we lost.  He will never, ever leave my heart.

The Savory Power of Suggestion

First- a general note.  This semester has officially come to a close.  As relieved as I am, I'm also a bit sad.  I'll really, truly miss my neural systems class.  It was also my primary source of topics for this blog.  However, I plan to seek out other sources and keep up the writing.

Enter today's topic- taste.  For as specific as science becomes on the molecular basis of taste and smell, it will never be able to captivate the truth of what we experience in a good meal.  Because the human mind isn't only just experiencing the food, it's taking in information from far flung sources like memory, vision, and even mood.

I'd like to set the scene with a personal anecdote.  Every year at thanksgiving, we have certain dishes that must be served, without fail.  My brother is quite traditional when it comes to family holidays and after 17 years of thanksgivings, if there isn't the usual version of stuffing on the table he gets upset.

Here's a picture of the dish from last thanksgiving.

So my traditional addition to the feast is a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows melted on top.  I make it every year, without fail.  And to me, it's the best dish on the table.  It's warm and sweet with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg.  I always go for seconds.  But this past winter, a group of my friends decided to have a potluck to celebrate the oncoming winter holidays.  I thought I'd share my traditional dish and made the sweet potato casserole.  But, for some reason it just didn't taste as rich.  It didn't seem to have the same mouth feel or aroma though I followed the recipe to a letter.

My hypothesis for the lackluster experience?  Context.  My dish was meant for family gatherings and feasting and home.  Taken out of context, I didn't have the same assumptions to enrich my experience.  Don't believe me?  Check out this study.

Frederic Brochet, from the University of Bordeaux, decided to pull a rather ingenious prank/test on 57 wine tasters.  He placed two glasses of wine in front of each expert- one red and one white.  He asked them to describe each drink which they did with the usual vocabulary used to describe each type.  Little did they know, the two glasses contained the exact same beverage.  It was just that one had added red dye.  Yet none of the experts called out the deceit.  No one seemed to notice.

As if that weren't embarrassing enough, he pulled a rather similar stunt but this time used the same drink but had it presented in two different bottles.  One with a cheap label and one naming it as an expensive aged wine.  Once again, the experts were taken in.  They described exactly what you'd expect from a cheap or classy wine.

My brother and I have a yearly tradition of hosting "Christmas
Cafe" where we cook a special dinner for my parents christmas eve.
We've gotten quite elaborate with the set-up over the years.

And all of this is due to the interlaced neurons in our brain.  We have many associations with food and drink, and it's certainly not all about flavor or smell.  So next time you want to make a special occasion, you don't have to spend big bucks on a gourmet pizza.  Just make sure you're eating in a special atmosphere with people you love.  Your taste buds wont disappoint.