Flavour through the lens of incongruity: a proposed framework

For many, flavour is the quintessential multisensory experience. The experience of flavour arises from inputs across a wide variety of sensory modalities, including but not limited to taste, smell, sound, several somatosensory channels as well as a range of other anticipatory cues that trigger expectations about the flavour object (visual, smell through the nose, context, etcetera). The regulation of inevitable mismatches between these bundles of inputs is necessary not only for these to converge into a unitary flavour percept but also to determine a hedonic response by the consumer. Remarkably, a framework to understand the regulation of incongruities across levels of the flavour experience is lacking. Here, we draw on a range of evidence to propose that the theoretical framework of conflict monitoring, which is well established in other areas of human cognition, could plausibly extend to encompass flavour-related phenomena. More specifically, we argue that brain mechanisms monitoring for, signalling, and eventually orchestrating the resolution of discrepancies between cues are decisive for the emergence of a unified flavour percept, and its associated evaluation by consumers. This framework helps elucidate well-documented facets of the experience of flavour and suggests promising avenues for research both in the laboratory and in the consumer industry.