Psychophysics: a journey from the laboratory to the clinic

Pfaffmann, famous for pioneering work in taste neurophysiology, was a great supporter of psychophysics. He wrote: “Indeed it can be said that without behavioral study, hand in hand with physiological and anatomical methods, one gets only a partial insight: telling where, and to some degree how, but not for what!” [The Psychologists, 1974; Chem Senses Flavour 1 (1974) 61]. The psychophysical studies he initially encouraged concerned mechanism (e.g. taste quality coding), but later methodological advances permitted valid comparisons of taste sensations across groups. Quantification of genetic as well as pathological variation permits the demonstration of links between oral sensory variation, food preferences, diet and health.