Hole Assessment by Finger and Tongue [research study]

A markedly penetrating report, involving fingers, tongues, and holes: “Differences in the oral size illusions produced by cross-modality matching of peg and hole stimuli by the tongue and fingers in humans,” Bruce Melvin and Robin Orchardson, Archives of Oral Biology, vol. 46, no. 3, March 2001, pp. 209-13. The authors, at the University of Glasgow, […]

Perception of the chilled groceries foodscape, with and without refrigerator doors

The researchers state their worry bluntly:  “The purpose of this paper is to contribute to an understanding of how consumers behave and what they perceive when shopping chilled groceries from cabinets with doors and without doors in the supermarket.” Sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch are all perception tools that help aid the decision making […]

Can rodents conceive hyperbolic spaces?

This new study is an adventure in understanding understanding: “Can Rodents Conceive Hyperbolic Spaces?” Eugenio Urdapilleta, Francesca Troiani, Federico Stella, Alessandro Treves, arXiv1502.02435, February 9, 2015. Thanks to Mason Porter for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, at SISSA in Trieste, Italy, explain: “The grid cells discovered in the rodent medial entorhinal cortex have been […]

Reduced Pleasant Touch Appraisal in the Presence of a Disgusting Odor

Here, a study about a disgusting odor, with a distinct touch: “Reduced Pleasant Touch Appraisal in the Presence of a Disgusting Odor,” Ilona Croy [pictured here], Silvia D’Angelo, Håkan Olausson, PLoS One, epub March 24, 2014. (Thanks to investigator Carmen Nobel for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, […]

A study of domestic cat meows, to be presented in Dublin

The world’s ongoing research effort to understand cat meows will center, for a shining moment in May, in Dublin, Ireland.The assembled delegates will there “A Study of Human Perception of Intonation in Domestic Cat Meows,” Susanne Schötz [pictured here, above] and Joost van de Weijer [pictured here, below], [paper to be presented at the conference] Proceedings […]