Newswise — LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 15, 2018) -- Register now for the third annual International Society of Neurogastronomy symposium, which will be held at the University of Kentucky on March 2-3, 2018.

Both day's events offer continuing education credit.

This year's symposium will explore the connection between brain and behavior in the context of food.

Luminaries from the worlds of science, nutrition, and culinary arts will share their knowledge on a variety of topics, including the psychological influences on eating and behavior, the chemosensory properties of food and how we experience them, the role of food as medicine, and the history and evolution of flavor and flavor perception.

For a full list of speakers, go here.

 The term Neurogastronomy was coined by Gordon Shepherd, MD, D.Phil., Professor of Neurobiology at Yale University-- first in 2006 in an article in Nature and six years later in an eponymous book. While Dr. Shepherd has been interested in the concept from a research perspective, a group of neuroscientists, chefs and food scientists are enthusiastic about making it a clinical translational science, with applications in cancer, stroke, and brain injury (which can destroy the sense of taste) and diseases like obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The day's format differs from the typical symposium, featuring brief presentations modeled after the popular TED talks and punctuated with breaks for tastings and a contest where the food from nationally acclaimed chefs Taria Camerino and Jehangir Mehta will be judged by UK HealthCare patients with diabetes.

Here is a link to video highlights from last year's symposium.

 This year, there is an experiential event on Friday, March 2: a 5-course dinner with wine pairings by world-class sommelier Francois Chartier and bourbon flavor wheel instruction by Chris Morris, Master Distiller at the Woodford Reserve, plus interdisciplinary clinical neuroscience lectures.

For more information about the symposium and how to register, click here.