Jacob Steiner - Research Projects

Research Projects

• Behavioral reactions to chemical stimuli (taste and smell) in autistic people.
• Behavioral response to chemical stimuli in man and animals:

"Steiner’s research, which involved infants only a few hours old, clearly shows that humans are born with the capacity to distinguish between various tastes. Jacob E. Steiner, a taste researcher at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, almost all babies, when tasting sweet stimuli, show a ’’marked relaxation of the face, resembling an expression of ’satisfaction.’ ’’ This expression is often followed by a slight smile and even ’’eager licking of the upper lip.’’ When the babies were fed a bitter solution, on the other hand, their facial expressions turned to ’’dislike and disgust or rejection.’’" New York Times April 16.1989. Can Society Tell You What Tastes Good?

"The meticulous observation, semiquantitative analysis and evaluation of behavioral reactions is proposed as one of the most relevant and valid avenues of investigation on the workup of chemosensory stimuli by the living organism. Behavioral manifestations, are probably even in a much easier way "readable" indicators of pleasure and displeasure than any other event-related bodily manifestation. In fact, the phenomenon of bacterial chemotaxis (as usually divided in positive- respectivel y negative chemotaxis) belong to the same category or kind of innate, probably even inherited reflectory mechanisms expressing " acceptance" - 'indifference' and 'aversion' of the organism." Jacob E. Steiner