The Johnson Lab provides demonstrations palatable to all ages!
Nathan motions to a poster summarizing the gustatory goodies in store for those who visit our table. In outreach designed to bridge neuroscience to common experience, we explore differences in the perception of taste between different genotypes, and with the introduction of the compound miraculin.
Test your tastebuds- Are you a supertaster?
Here Giana prepares to administer a taste strip to a SciFest participant; if they report a taste on the strip, it suggests they may be a genetic supertaster and have notably more tastebuds than average.
Miracle berries take the kick out of cranberry juice
Smayati readies another cup of cranberry juice (we ran out of lemonade) for a participant who recently chewed on a miracle berry, native to West Africa. Participants would enjoy perhaps the mildest swig of cranberry juice in their lives, and an accompanying explanation of the neurological changes which facilitated it.
