We have all experienced that moment when a particular scent hits our nostrils and we are instantly driven down a memory lane. Whether it's your grandmother's recently baked pumpkin pie, the salty air of the beach or a simple freshly cut grass, we find ourselves out of the sudden with a flow of vivid images of older times.
What's up with that?
Well, you see, there's this thing called “odor-evoked autobiographical memory” or the Proust phenomenon and it kind of goes like this.
Research has found that the reason behind this happening it has to do with the way our brains process odors and memories. The smell-analyzing region is closely connected to our amygdala and hippocampus, both areas in charge of memory and emotion. And, interestingly, visual, auditory, and tactile information don't go through any of these brain areas at all.
But as inexplicable as it may sound, we have all been there.
I often find myself reminiscing about older times whenever my significant other wears his Polo Blue by Ralph Lauren perfume. In the blink of an eye, I am suddenly placed in all of those date nights we spent together back when we first met; drinking awfull gas-station coffee by the beach, talking about everything and nothing at all, until the sun came up.
And whenever my mother wakes up in one of her cooking days, and she spends the whole day inside the kitchen baking whatever crosses her mind, I always feel like I'm ten years old all over again.
Unfortunately, it’s not only positive associations and memories that are brought back by different odors. Some scents are known to trigger disturbing memories in people with post-traumatic stress disorder. And I'm not alien to that either.
There's a specific brand of soap that I can't use anymore because it was the one I used in the hospital back when I had my apparently-pretty-simple surgery that ended up being an oops-you-almost-died kind of surgery. There is something that instantly triggers me into believing I'm in danger, and honestly, I just hate the way it makes me feel.
As much as I would like to offer more information about this phenomenon, oddly, there really isn't much to begin with. Our brain is a complicated organ on its own, and despite having very well-known factors influencing the way our memories come to mind, there is still a vast amount of unknown ground on this particular subject.
To the point, there are still many questions waiting to be answered. Would this mean that by improving our sense of smell we will be able to have more vivid memories? Is this reliable enough to use to our advantage?
I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the researchers in the matter come up with.