Dr. Charles Zuker: The Biology of Taste Perception & Sugar Craving | Huberman Lab Podcast #81

My guest this episode is Dr. Charles Zuker, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biophysics and Neuroscience at Columbia University and an Investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Zuker is the world’s leading expert in the biology of taste, thirst and craving. His laboratory explores the mechanisms of taste perception, focusing on how our conscious and unconscious processing of specific foods and nutrients guide our actions and behaviors. We discuss the neural circuits of taste, the “gut-brain axis,” the basis of food cravings and the key difference between wanting (craving) and liking (perceiving) sugar. We also explore how taste perception relates to specific food satiety, thirst, to our emotions, and expectation. We also consider how sugar containing and highly-processed foods can hijack the natural balance of the taste and digestive systems. Dr. Zuker provides a true masterclass in the biology of taste and perception that ought to be of interest to anyone curious about how the brain works, our motivated behaviors and the neural, chemical perceptual aspects of the mind.

#HubermanLab #Sugar #Taste

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Dr. Charles Zuker
Columbia Zuckerman Institute: https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.e...
Lab website: https://www.zukerlab.com
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) profile: https://www.hhmi.org/scientists/charl...

Timestamps
00:00:00 Dr. Charles Zuker & Taste Perception
00:03:05 Momentous Supplements
00:04:35 Thesis, ROKA, Helix Sleep
00:08:35 Sensory Detection vs. Sensory Perception
00:11:48 Individual Variations within Perception, Color
00:16:20 Perceptions & Behaviors
00:20:19 The 5 Taste Modalities
00:26:18 Aversive Taste, Bitter Taste
00:28:00 Survival-Based & Evolutionary Reasons for Taste Modalities, Taste vs. Flavor
00:30:14 Additional Taste Modalities: Fat & Metallic Perception
00:34:02 Tongue “Taste Map,” Taste Buds & Taste Receptors
00:39:34 Burning Your Tongue & Perception
00:42:54 The “Meaning” of Taste Stimuli, Sweet vs. Bitter, Valence
00:51:55 Positive vs. Negative Neuronal Activation & Behavior
00:56:16 Acquired Tastes, Conditioned Taste Aversion
01:01:44 Olfaction (Smell) vs. Taste, Changing Tastes over One’s Lifetime
01:09:14 Integration of Odor & Taste, Influence on Behavior & Emotion
01:17:26 Sensitization to Taste, Internal State Modulation, Salt
01:24:05 Taste & Saliva: The Absence of Taste
01:28:10 Sugar & Reward Pleasure Centers; Gut-Brain Axis, Anticipatory Response
01:36:23 Vagus Nerve
01:43:09 Insatiable Sugar Appetite, Liking vs. Wanting, Gut-Brain Axis
01:52:03 Tool: Sugar vs. Artificial Sweeteners, Curbing Appetite
01:54:06 Cravings & Gut-Brain Axis
01:57:30 Nutrition, Gut-Brain Axis & Changes in Behavior
02:01:53 Fast vs. Slow Signaling & Reinforcement, Highly Processed Foods
02:10:38 Favorite Foods: Enjoyment, Sensation & Context
02:15:58 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous Supplements, Instagram, Twitter, Neural Network Newsletter

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Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com