Odors Best at Evoking Emotionally Charged Memories

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Friday June 29 2:18 PM ET

Odors Best at Evoking Emotionally Charged Memories

By E. J. Mundell

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A rose might never smell so sweet as when it connects us with a poignant memory from the past, researchers report.

The ability of a specific scent to evoke memory was ``most effective'' when individuals associated the odor with a period of sadness rather than a more neutral emotional state, according to Dr. John Mueller of the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

Mueller presented the findings at this month's annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, in Toronto.

Speaking with Reuters Health, the Canadian researcher said that ``the idea that smells can serve as memory triggers in naturalistic settings has long been an idea with popular acceptance,'' with the most notable literary example being Marcel Proust's sense-induced reminiscences in ``Remembrance of Things Past.''

But are some types of memories more strongly linked to our sense of smell than others? In their experiment, Mueller and co-researcher Dr. Ljiljana Velisavljevic had two sets of people memorize a list of words while being exposed to the scent of violet leaves. One group memorized the list while in a neutral mood state, while the other group were exposed to a combination of sad reading material and poignant background music to induce a more melancholy mood just before the test.

One day later, the researchers again exposed participants to the violet-leaf odor.

They found that individuals who had been induced to a sad emotional state when first exposed to the odor performed better at spontaneously recalling words from the test, compared with those who had been in a neutral mood. In other words, ``adding a sad mood enhanced the value of odor as the retrieval clue,'' Mueller explained.

It is not entirely clear whether other strong emotions, such as anger, joy or romantic love, might also enhance the memory-triggering abilities of smell, although future studies are planned.

Mueller speculates that neuroanatomy may be behind the close link between odor and emotion. ``I am not a physiologist, but my understanding is that the brain structure believed to be involved in processing odor is adjacent to that involved in processing/generating emotional experiences, and that these are both 'early' stages in the processing of experiences,'' he said. ''It may be that both centers are activated together, or each by the other to some extent.''

-- Tidbit (of@the.day), June 30, 2001

Answers

And I am not a physiologist but I think it's true that odors physically touch the olfactory-sensitive part of the brain. There are no other senses where the brain is so directly involved as in smell.

Last autumn, I was literally on the outdoor ground for the first time in years. I was amazed at how the the upclose smell of damp earth, grass and autumn leaves directly recalled long-ago memories of playing in piles of leaves with my daughter and even childhood memories of wrassling in the leaves with my Dad and with other kids.

Aroma therapy anyone?

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), June 30, 2001.


Back in the Mussolini days, an Italian fascist criminologist named Luca Commerio {sp?}, made quite a bit of hay with his theory that murderers and vicious criminals were particularly susceptable to the scent of carnation.

Lars, the interesting thing is how closely scent is tied in with memory. In the wayback times, this aspect no doubt made a great deal of biologic sense. Nowadays, it can seem personally disconcerting. Who can smell the aroma of the stocks flowers and not think of a funeral?

Another thing that interests me is difference in peoples' perception of a given scent. For example, there is a wildflower called Pearly Everlasting. It smells like maple syrup to most people {I'm told}. I don't get it, and I'd say that a fairly substantial amount of folks can't perceive this at all. Some also claim that the chanterelle mushroom smells of apricots - I don't get that one either. My husband, on the other hand, strongly resonates with those popular interpretations. In an informal but long lasting poll of couples, I've noticed that a 'get-it' individual is often pared with a 'don't- get-it' mate. What does it all mean, Lars?

-- flora (***@__._), June 30, 2001.


Flora, my mate didn't 'get it' either. Jan thought that apricots smelled like chanterelle mushrooms. Those were the early symptoms. It got much worse. So sad.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), June 30, 2001.

Jan also claimed that her farts smelled like roses.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), June 30, 2001.

Hokay,

So, I thought that I tried to introduce some content fron my narrow prism of the world, and expressed in my inept style. This could have been expanded - I do know of serious research in applied areas, and internationally lauded projects - ah, screw it!

Sir, you may be goofin' - or it may be your troll...

*&%$#@!

Are ya happy?

-- flora (***@__._), July 01, 2001.



Flora? It's really me. Is it really you?

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), July 01, 2001.

When I was nine, my grandmother took me on a week-long trip to Washington, D.C. We stayed at the Charter House Motel and it had this scent. It just stayed with me over the years.

About fifteen years later, I was working at this small company. One of my clients gave me a perfume for Christmas; it was called "Krystle" (after that character in that night-time soap).

It smelled exactly like the motel. It was as if I had been transported back to that exact week in time. I remembered what I thought, what the room looked like, what I wore, the smell of the bus on the way down, the cab from the bus station, conversations I had with the security personnel at the Mint, etc.

I kept that perfume for years because my grandmother had long since died. Every now and then I just opened the bottle so I could "remember her". It was sweet.

I can still kind of smell it whenever I think about her or that trip. I've always thought that "scent" was the most powerful memory trigger (followed closely by the stupidest song you can remember from many years ago). It just takes you back to that moment in time and you can almost re-live it.

-- (PatriciaS@lasvegas.com), July 01, 2001.


Yeah, dadgummit, it's me.

I tell ya, no one can out-troll herself like I can. Remember, one of our greatest has deemed me the screwiest broad her ever met, or something to that effect.

Now, back to reality; some of my dear friends have been the Italian filmakers Yervant Gianikian & Angela Ricci Lucci. They have made some intriguing forays into this topic of scent and memories over the years. I don't know what you trolls may dredge up on a search about them, but they are the real deal.

The subliminal senses are those by whch we seem to be easily manipulated. I seem to recall a post by CD awhile back that spoke of the soundtracks which were played in casinos to encourage more gambling. I've seen TV schlock about the aromae that are wafted around elite shoe departments, because of studies which somehow prove that consumers are more apt to pony up to the cash register after such exposures.

What fascinates me most is the quirkieness of scent and memory on a personal level. {Read - Cherry tomatoes, Auntie's yard, circa 1963}. Y'all know by now that I am a naturalist, and as such I am familiar with the AWESOME nasal cavities and labyrinths of our marine mammals. It is a common known fact that moms & pups of several species identify each other mainly by scent. As I look at the evidence , I can't help but wonder what other information that we humans may be picking up on a subliminal level.

My surveys may be goofy, but sooner enough - someone may find a grant proposal in them.

-- flora (***@__.__), July 01, 2001.


ALL MESSAGES AFTER THIS ONE SUBJECT TO THE LOVE DECREE!

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), July 01, 2001.

I love Patricia. I love scumster-diver.

-- Lars (larsguy@yahoo.com), July 01, 2001.


I love you too, Lars. And you flora. And you Unk.

(Does that cover me for three responses?)

Chuckling at the keyboard ;-)
(Homage to The Dog, whom I love as well.)

-- (PatriciaS@lasvegas.com), July 01, 2001.


No Patricia, each post must express love. There is no "love bank".

I love you Patricia.

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), July 01, 2001.


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