Non-Sciencey Explanation Why Scents Trigger Memories
Certain scents trigger memories because your nose is like a VIP with a backstage pass to your brain. When you sniff something, the smell hits your olfactory bulb, okay wait, that’s a little sciencey. The olfactory bulb is just the part of your brain involved in smelling scents.
Anyhoo, this part is super tight with the amygdala and hippocampus, the brain’s emotion and memory squad. Unlike stuff you see or hear, scents don’t get stuck in traffic; they zoom straight to these areas, making strong connections.
It’s called the Proust effect, okay wait, technically that’s more academic-y, and not sciencey, so we’re still on target. It’s more of a phenomenon, and it’s legit because our brains evolved to tie smells to survival, like remembering what’s safe or dangerous. Like, ooh, that smells like natural gas, and I should not fire up this incense cone right now or, y’know, kaboom. Or maybe you smell the kind of gas from someone’s dupa and definitely do want to light a candle.
This is why the smell of your babcia’s cookies or some old cologne can hit you like a time machine, pulling up vivid feels and moments. My mom died almost a half century ago, and yet anytime I smell Estee Lauder perfume, I instantly think of her, like she’s standing right next to me. I bet some of you think of pimpley face, awkward junior high days if you smell Love’s Baby Soft body spray? Or Musk oil, same same.
Nifty, huh?
