The neurocognitive interaction between food and emotions: a thematic research

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Purpose This study synthesizes contemporary neurogastronomy research on the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying food–emotion interactions. By drawing on neuroscience, psychology and culinary studies, the review constructs a thematic map of current scientific understanding and identifies gaps with implications for research and practice in hospitality and gastrotourism contexts. Design/methodology/approach A systematic thematic literature review was conducted following Braun and Clarke (2006) six-phase framework. Studies published between January 2024 and October 2025 were retrieved from Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar using the search terms “neurogastronomy,” “food emotion,” “multisensory integration” and “flavor perception” in combination with “emotion,” “affect,” “limbic system” and “amygdala.” Of 47 records identified, 20 peer-reviewed articles met the inclusion criteria following title, abstract and full-text screening. Quality assessment was conducted using criteria adapted from the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool and Critical Appraisal Skills Program. Findings Six themes were identified: theoretical foundations of neurogastronomy as an interdisciplinary field; neural architectures involving limbic-prefrontal networks in food evaluation; multisensory integration producing emergent flavor percepts that exceed individual sensory inputs; bidirectional food–emotion relationships operating through gut-brain, expectancy and memory pathways; cultural modulation of neural food responses through developmental plasticity; and methodological innovations including neuroimaging, neuromarketing tools and multimodal assessment. Approximately, 75% of reviewed studies drew on Western populations, limiting cross-cultural generalizability. Flavor perception functions as a brain-constructed phenomenon shaped by predictive coding, with emotional responses reflecting coordinated amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex and hippocampal activity. Originality/value This study provides the first thematic synthesis of the 2024–2025 neurogastronomy literature, integrating fragmented findings across neuroscience, psychology and culinary domains into a coherent multilevel framework. It identifies actionable directions for culinary education, hospitality experience design, gastrotourism practice, public health and ethical neuromarketing and establishes a research agenda prioritizing cross-cultural validation, longitudinal investigation and naturalistic study designs.