How is Scent Tied to Memory?
The other day I was using Listerine mouthwash and was randomly flooded with the memory of my great grandma and grandpa. I even had the sense of being in their old house, which I haven’t been in for 20 years or more. When I told my mom about it, she mentioned that they loved Listerine and used it religiously. This was not something I knew or remembered about them, but somewhere hidden in my brain, this information was stored away.
My Great Grandma and Grandpa’s House in Long Prairie, MN
This phenomenon made me curious so I did a little research…
It turns out the link between scent and memory is thought to be due to the architectural layout of our brain. When we smell something, the information gathered by our nose travels directly to the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb has direct connections to the amygdala (portion of the brain responsible for emotional processing) and the hippocampus (portion of the brain responsible for memory).
Neuroscientists believe this connection may explain why smell can trigger memories we’d long forgotten.
Interestingly, our sense of smell is the only formed sense we have as a fetus still in the womb. It remains our most developed sense until about age 10 when our sense of sight becomes the strongest. As we get older, it is common for us to lose our sense of smell but some scientists suggest it is like a muscle. We can strengthen our sense of smell simply by using it! A good practice is to be mindful of the scents around you and consciously label them.
Has a scent ever triggered a memory for you?
Sources:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-smells-trigger-memories1/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/
https://www.fifthsense.org.uk/psychology-and-smell/#:~:text=The%20sense%20of%20smell%20is,a%20childhood%20picnic%2C%20for%20example.