The Brain in the Glass
Tasting and Talk event
Neurogastronomy, Emotion, and the Psychological Construction of Taste
Prof. Vincenzo Russo, IULM University, Milan
This masterclass brings together cognitive neuroscience, the psychology of perception, and wine culture to explore how the brain constructs gustatory experience.
Taste represents a paradigmatic model of mind–brain integration: a chemical stimulus is transformed into subjective experience through multisensory integration, emotional modulation, episodic memory, predictive processing, and hedonic evaluation—processes mediated, among other regions, by the orbitofrontal cortex. Wine thus becomes a natural laboratory for observing expectation, framing, contextual influence, and meaning-making in action.
The session includes a guided tasting of selected premium Italian wines, embedded within a carefully designed experiential setting that allows participants to directly observe how contextual and perceptual variables shape judgments of quality, intensity, structure, and pleasantness.
A scientifically grounded yet relaxing experience designed for psychologists and researchers interested in cognitive and affective processes—where enological excellence meets neuroscience to reveal that taste is, fundamentally, an act of the mind.
Happening on July 22, 23, and 24 (5:00 – 6:30 pm),
The events welcomes a maximum of 50 attendees/each. Price: euro 15,00
Reserve your place while registering online!
Professor Vincenzo Russo
Full Professor of Psychology of Consumption and Neuromarketing at IULM, in Milan. Founder and Scientific Director of the “IULM Behavior and Brain Lab” Neuromarketing Research Centre. Scientific director of the Master’s Degree in Food and Wine Communication and the Master’s Degree in Neuromarketing, Consumer Neuroscience and Market Research. Scientific Director of the bid by the Region of Sicily for appointment as European Region of Gastronomy 2025 (appointment granted on 17 December 2023). He has led national and international research projects on the relationship between emotions, decisions and eating habits. Author of one of the most widely used manuals on Consumer Psychology and of “Neuromarketing”, “Consumer Neuroscience”and “Comunicare il Vino” and “Neuroscienze a Tavola”. He has published several theoretical and research contributions on food consumption and neuromarketing.