Think about the last time you enjoyed a meal at a restaurant. You probably remember what you ate, but what about the music playing in the background? New research suggests that what we hear while eating may influence how we experience the food itself.
In a small experiment, researchers found that listening to music while tasting sweet and sour flavors changed how the brain responded to those tastes. Certain music also made the flavors slightly more enjoyable, suggesting that the experience of eating involves more than just our taste buds.
The findings, published in Scientific Reports, come from researchers at the University of Copenhagen and collaborating institutions who wanted to understand how music and taste interact.
“Flavor is an experience created by the brain,” said Janice Wang, senior author of the study and an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen.
Researchers recruited 48 adults and created two soundtracks designed to evoke different tastes. One featured smooth, harmonious music associated with sweetness, while the other used sharper, less harmonious sounds associated with sourness.
Participants listened to the music while tasting sweet and sour liquids. They also sampled the same flavors without music and rated how pleasant, sweet or sour they tasted.
Brain scans from 28 participants showed greater activity in areas involved in taste and sensations in the mouth when music accompanied the flavors, compared with tasting alone.
But did the music actually change what people tasted?
The answer wasn't entirely straightforward. Participants found the liquids slightly more pleasant when listening to the sweeter-sounding music than when tasting in silence.
When it came to making flavors taste stronger, however, the results were less convincing. Among the 28 participants with complete brain scan data, music didn't significantly change how sweet or sour the liquids tasted. An analysis of all 48 participants suggested that sweeter-sounding music increased perceived sweetness, but that effect wasn't consistent in the smaller group.
The findings build on earlier research suggesting that sounds can influence how we experience food, from the crunch of potato chips to the sweetness of desserts. This study adds evidence that music and taste interact in the brain, even if the effects aren't always obvious to the person eating.
There are limits to what the findings tell us about everyday meals. The study involved a relatively small group of mostly young adults, and participants tasted flavored liquids rather than actual foods. Researchers also don't know whether the differences would be noticeable during a typical meal.
The team believes the findings could eventually help restaurants, cafeterias and health care facilities create more enjoyable eating experiences. Whether music could encourage people with poor appetites to eat more remains an open question.
For now, the research offers an interesting reason to pay attention to the soundtrack accompanying your next meal. The food may be the same, but the experience of eating it could be a little different.
The study was supported by the Carlsberg Foundation, a Danish charitable foundation.