Scientists at the University of Singapore have come to an unusual conclusion during a series of experiments: falling in love can make the dessert you eat much tastier. The habitual cliché about the direct relationship of love and sweetness, it turns out, has a literal meaning: thoughts of romance can make us perceive what we eat or drink is sweeter than it really is.
The people who took part in the experiment correlated their emotions with various tastes - sweet, salty, sour and spicy. Then one group was asked to describe a personal romantic experience, and the other something boring. After that, members of the group were asked to evaluate the taste of the food offered to them. As a result, food seemed much sweeter to those who wrote about love (even plain water "sweetened") than to those who described boring events, impressions or negative emotions, such as jealousy.
Scientists believe that such taste features are directly related to the work of the nervous system, perceiving, perhaps from childhood, sweet as a reward for something. Also, studies have shown that a specific area of the brain, which plays a role in predicting rewards, is activated when looking at the image of a pair of lovers or tasting sweets.
