Chemical Senses
Eric Gunderson
PSY/345 - Sensation and Perception
June 27, 2016
Matthew Will

Chemical Senses
The five senses of human experience are well known to most everyone: we can see, hear, touch, taste, and smell. However, the science behind them is not as well known. The first three (sight, audibility, and touch) are senses in which external stimuli are perceived by a person through the by-product (i.e. reflection of light, pressure changes in air, pressure/stretching/vibration) of an environmental object. The latter two, taste and smell, are senses in which external stimuli have to physically enter into a person in order for him or her to experience the sensation. The sensations themselves are activated by chemical reactions from the external stimuli as opposed to light and pressure changes that the other senses employ. The chemical sensations smell and taste are interactively working together. The purpose of this paper is to describe in detail just this. The first thing that will be discussed is how smell and taste affect each other and which one of the two one would change to make a meal taste better, followed by a description of the sensory elements that must be present to emphasize the connection between the chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain in order to make the most memorable meal of one’s life, and concluded by a description of the connection created between the chemical senses, emotional memories, and the brain.
How Smell and Taste Affect Each Other and Which One of the Two Would Make a Meal Taste Better?
When discussing how smell and taste affect each other, it is important to distinguish the affection in two areas of the body: (1) In the mouth and nose and (2) in the nervous system. Following a description of the affection in these two areas, the answer to “which one of the two would make a meal taste better?” will