"It smells like Christmas in the countries that celebrate: In Germany, for example, scents of fresh pine, sugar cookies, mulled wine waft through the air. And they are likely to trigger emotions or memories in many people's minds. "When you smell [this familiar] scent again, you're back in the memory in grandma's kitchen baking Christmas cookies," said Olaf Conrad, a doctor of otorhinolaryngology at Erlangen University Hospital."
"Smells are processed in the oldest part of our brain, the paleocortex. Olfactory processes happen close to the amygdala, which is in charge of our emotional responses, and the hippocampus, which is crucial for forming memories, Conrad explained. No wonder, then, that scents and memories are so closely connected! "Tests have shown that our sense of smell is the strongest sensory impression when it comes to triggering memories," Conrad told DW."
Familiar scents such as pine, baked goods, or pancakes commonly trigger vivid emotional memories, often stronger than visual reminders like photographs. Smells are processed in the paleocortex, with olfactory pathways positioned near the amygdala, which mediates emotion, and the hippocampus, which forms memories. The close neural proximity explains why smell is a particularly powerful memory cue, capable of activating both positive and traumatic recollections, including war-related triggers like the smell of gunpowder. Formative scent-linked memories can be retrieved without a clear time-stamp, causing moments to feel like direct re-experiences of the past.
Read at www.dw.com
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