The Sense of Smell and the Link to Memories

[Atticus Finch]

Hi Folks,

What a great thread! I have read somewhere that the sense of smell evokes the most vivid memories because it is our most primitive sense. It is the one that our humanoid ancestors first developed and most depended upon to survive. The information that it records to the brain, along with any information registered at the same time by the other senses, is in the brain forever, and is recalled whenever that particular smell or sent is encountered again.

Atticus

 

[Benny Holiday]

Thanks for the explanation Atticus

I was wondering why the sense of smell has such a potent connection to memory.

 

[katiemakeup]

The smell of kerosene triggers very strong sense-memories for me of my grandparents' home. They had no central heating, so the whole house was heated by two kerosene stoves, one in the living room and one in the kitchen -- and the house constantly smelled of the fuel. Some might find it an acrid, unpleasant odor, but for me it's the most comforting smell there is.

Oh my gosh- me too! When my sister & I were little we sometimes had to sleep in the doorways of our room during wintertime... the heat would always go out so my dad would place a kerosene heater in the hallway!

Also- After my maternal grandfather ('Papoo') passed, my mom placed his old fishing rods & hat out in their breezeway...everytime I go past I immediately smell tobacco & leather- they used to sit right at his desk

 

[Phaedra]

Fresh cut grass on a spring day reminds me of my grandparent's home in the country.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Georgia peach

My home in Atlanta: red clay, pine needles. Going into work at Macy's South trim-a-tree, the smell of Cinnabons. My grandparents' earth basement in Rome, Georgia.