I loved the smell of a package I received recently because it reminded me of visiting my grandmother’s house as a child. A colleague gently pointed out that the odor was of moth balls. I just thought it was grandma’s perfume. or medicine.

Another woman’s memories of her grandparents’ home are awakened by the scent of roses. For her, the scent of a rose equates to happiness. One man’s memory of the sweet smell of freshly grown mangoes sends him back to childhood in the South Pacific. He tastes the sweetness of fresh fruits by their aroma.

Everyone has at least one scent that revives the past or conjures an emotion. the association of odors to experiences, places, and people might be negative or positive. Why is that?

A recent interview with a researcher in the field of olfaction imparted the processing of odors by the nose and brain. It breaks down to this:

1. Odor enters the nose

2. Odor = molecules

3. Molecules attach to receptors in the nose (think lock and key)

4. Signals shoot up to the brain via specialized nerve cells

5. Brain deciphers the smell

6. Brain recalls a memory associated with that odor or makes a new memory

Multiple areas of the brain decode odors for distinct purposes. The Olfactory Bulb in the forebrain gathers and relays information to the piriform cortex for smell identification. The orbitofrontal cortex codes for taste. The hippocampus and amygdala decode odor signals for learning and memory functions

Basically, specific areas of our brain process odors differently due to their respective specializations. Each of us has a somewhat unique response to each distinct odor because of our individualized experiences and neuronal processing. So, smell away and have a great day because your brains has taken care of the rest!

Kevin Bolding, PhD decodes smell and the brain in “Interview With A Scientist: Olfaction”.