ONLY the left side of the brain can decide whether or not food tastes
good鈥攚hereas both sides of the brain assess how strong it tastes.
Thomas Pritchard and Paul Eslinger of the Penn State College of Medicine in
Hershey, Pennsylvania, tested the taste of eleven healthy people and six people
with brain damage. They dropped salty, bitter, sweet or sour tastes onto the
subjects鈥� tongues.
All the brain damage patients were able to assess the intensity of the
flavours, but those with damage in the insular cortex of the left side of the
brain were unable to name the taste (Behavioral Neuroscience, vol 113,
p 663).
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鈥淭he left side of the brain seems to have the upper hand in terms of taste
quality,鈥� says Pritchard. He believes quality assessment requires language
centres found on the brain鈥檚 left side.