Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Supertasting, Languages, and Neuronal Development

A while back, I posted about the advantages of exposing the young mind to different languages and the connection of that to the fact that infants are actually pruning the connections between their over-connected neurons.  (Development for the very young is not the forming of new connection as it is for adults, but rather the abandonment of pathways not needed).

Now it occurs to me that the same thing might be happening for smell.  Irene and I have noticed that our kids seem to be supersensitive to trace odors and tastes.  (chop an onion near their open container of milk and Isabelle will tell you about it when she takes a sip later).  Apparently the development of taste is not well understood and undergoing considerable research, but we do know that there are bona-fide supertasters among us.  That might not have anything to do with neuronal development but now I can post another They Might be Giants video!:

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