[The28thDuck]

I want to say that it’s not a linear relationship between hardness and cognitive function. There’s something about putting effort into biting something and it “giving” that, to me, makes this super satisfying and kinda puts me into a flow in a way. The tactical feedback is important. Maybe I’m just weird. :)

[bob1029]

The term for this in the food business is "mouthfeel". It is a gigantic part of their R&D process.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_rheology#Psychorheology