Link proved between senses and memory

**Posts:** 248 · by **grovelli** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 12:59 pm

Patients with damage to their hippocampus can have amnesia stretching back several years but still recall smells from their childhood.
But experts still do not really know why our noses have such a hold on our memories. How exactly do our brains make close associations, such that the smell of an aunt’s cake can transport one back to childhood?

**Posts:** 2821 · by **Roger Elliott** » Sat Jun 26, 2004 9:48 pm

The olfactory centre and the amygdala are closely linked, so smells evoke emotion, and the clearest long term memories are always the most emotional. There, do I get my nobel prize? :wink:

http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan98/smell.html

**Posts:** 248 · by **grovelli** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 6:49 am

Ciao Roger,
The article your link leads to contains another powerful insight:
"Most animals use odors to distinguish between “good” and “bad” situations—to let them know when they should approach or avoid food, other animals or specific locations. In humans, this approach-avoid function has primarily shifted over to our emotions, which, as in the fright or flight reaction, we use to evaluate a situation"

Link proved between senses and memory

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