Have you ever been transported back in time by the simple whiff of a familiar scent? Maybe the aroma of freshly baked cookies catapults you straight back to your grandmother’s kitchen, or the scent of a particular cologne or perfume evokes memories of a past love.
This isn’t mere nostalgia at play; it’s neuroscience. Dive into this article to unravel the fascinating science behind why certain smells have the power to unlock forgotten memories and stir deep emotions.
How Does the Brain Process Sensory Information?
Most of our senses—like vision, hearing, and touch—take a detour through the brain’s “switchboard,” known as the thalamus, before reaching their final destination for processing. Think of the thalamus as the brain’s traffic police, directing sensory information to the right neighborhoods—like the hippocampus for memory or the amygdala for emotions. But smell doesn’t play by these rules.
When you catch a whiff of something, that scent takes a VIP shortcut straight to the olfactory bulb, your brain’s smell headquarters. It skips the thalamus altogether. What’s intriguing is that the olfactory bulb has direct lines to both the memory-centric hippocampus and the emotion-laden amygdala. This unique neural pathway might explain why smells can so vividly trigger memories and emotions.
Some experts suggest that this process is rooted in evolution. Though humans rely heavily on our sense of sight, smell is a much more rudimentary sense. It can be traced all the way across the evolutionary spectrum to single-celled organisms that retain the ability to interact with chemicals in their environment. Consider this: the human eye contains only four types of light sensors, but we have over 1,000 different types of smell receptors in our bodies.
The Brain Remembers Specific Scents
When a certain scent invokes a memory, it can be an unsettling experience. Memories linked to odor can be incredibly vivid and research suggests it may have something to do with all those olfactory receptors.
Individual receptors aren’t capable of processing every smell—instead, they each focus on a subset of different odors. When smells are sent to the olfactory bulb for processing, they activate certain receptors which then pass the signal through various microregions of the brain. These too specialize in processing certain odors. Because the olfactory bulb is directly connected to the amygdala and hippocampus, the interpretation of odor becomes intertwined with memory and emotion.
One of the earliest studies of this effect was led by Dr. Rachel Herz, a Brown University researcher, in 2004. Dr. Herz and her team found that study participants exhibited stronger brain activity when smelling a perfume with which they’d associated a positive memory than with smelling a perfume they’d never smelled before. Taking their hypothesis one step further, the researchers found that the brain activity associated with the memory-linked perfume was greater than the activity produced by visually seeing the perfume bottle itself.
Researchers have also studied the impact of the link between scent and negative emotion. The connection between smell and negative emotion is particularly significant in cases of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Relive Fond Memories with LAFCO Fragrance
Time seems to pass more quickly the older we get, and even once-vivid memories begin to fade. It’s possible, however, to trigger specific memories or emotion through the power of fragrance. Once you find a fragrance that invokes a pleasant memory, take advantage.
Give one of these popular LAFCO fragrances a try:
- Sea & Dune – Conjure memories of lazy days spent at the beach with this fresh fragrance. It blends refreshing notes of lemon, coastal lily, and blue lotus with warming hints of ginger, amber, and vetiver. Enjoy this fragrance in scented candles, reed diffusers, and body care products like liquid soap and hand cream.
- Fresh Cut Gardenia – Whether it’s memories of a loved one’s perfume or a celebration decorated with fresh flowers, this scent is sure to strike a chord. Floral notes of gardenia, neroli, and orange flower intermingle with fresh lemon, leafy greens, woody cedar, and rich musk.
- Feu de Bois – Reminiscent of cold winter days spent in front of a roaring fire or tucked under a blanket with an old book, this fragrance seamlessly combines woody, earthy, spicy, and resinous notes to create a truly heartwarming olfactory experience.
- Retreat – If memories of time spent in nature bring you peace, you’ll enjoy this blissful fragrance blend. It features top notes of bergamot, matcha, ginger, and mint which hover over a heart of sweet rhubarb, herbal clary sage, and mate absolute. You’ll also catch hints of palo santo, Timur pepper, and guaiac wood.
- Spiced Pomander – Transport your mind back to sweet holiday memories with this fall fragrance. A modern twist on a holiday tradition, this blend features notes of sweet orange blossom, spicy ginger and clove, aromatic amber, and rich sandalwood.
Not every scent may be linked to memory, so it may take some guesswork to find the right one. Sample six LAFCO fragrances with the Travel Candle Collection or create your own three-piece sampler with the LAFCO Discovery Trio.