Olfactory Memory

Scents are processed in the olfactory bulb, the structure in the front of the brain that sends information to the other areas of the body’s central command for further processing. Scents take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory. “The olfactory signals very quickly get to the limbic system,”both responsible for providing emotional reactions and memories.

How a specific scent can evoke a lovely memory or moment? It’s a sensation that can bring you back to another time and place, and there’s a reason for that. Scent is, after all, strongly linked to our emotions and memories.

That’s why sometimes scents trigger powerful memories, especially emotional ones.

“75% of the emotions we generate on a daily basis are affected by smell. Next to sight, it is the most important sense we have.”- By Martin Lindstrom