Overview

• The peer-reviewed study, published September 12 in Nature Communications, identifies a shared flavour-specific neural code in the human insula.
• Using fMRI in 25 healthy adults, the team trained participants on sweet and savoury pairings, then applied machine-learning to decode brain activity from tasteless aromas versus tastes without smell.
• Aromas perceived as sweet or savoury activated the insula in patterns matching actual tastes, with overlapping responses in granular, dysgranular and agranular regions.
• Odours also engaged the piriform cortex, indicating that flavour information converges early in the insula rather than only in frontal areas linked to decision-making and emotion.
• The authors plan to test whether external (orthonasal) smells shift insular activity in real-world settings, and they report ERC and Swedish Research Council funding with collaboration in Turkey.