Flavor processing: perceptual and cognitive factors in multi-modal integration. Chem Senses. 30(Suppl 1):i232–i233

The chemical senses may represent the most fundamental integrative sensory modalities. For example, flavor perception is widely consid-ered to be an integrative process whereby two distinct neural systems (olfactory and gustatory) are activated peripherally to give rise to a unitary oral sensation of flavor. Benefits of multimodal sensory inte-gration in other modalities include increased sensitivity and reaction times (Krushel and van der Kooy, 1988; Fowler and Dekle, 1991; Schifferstein and Verlegh, 1995). Investigations into the integration of multisensory information at a neural level in cats and primates have revealed that neurons of the superior colliculus are capable of integrating cues from three sensory modalities: vision, audition and somatosensation (Rolls and Baylis, 1994; Schul et al., 1996; Whalen, 1998). The close relationship between smell and taste along with the evidence of the existence of neurons particularly sensitive to multi-modal inputs, led us to hypothesize that neural inputs for odor an