Whether it is the whiff of a woman’s perfume that takes your mind back to an ex-girlfriend, or a song that defines a moment in your life, the strong connection between senses and memory has long intrigued scientists.
However, a study has found that when we smell or hear something during an emotional experience, the odour or sound is woven together with the memory in the same region of the brain.
— From Smells linked to memories 'because they are stored in same part of brain' at the Telegraph. Many thanks to Ruth for the link!
This isn’t surprising since a good part of my fragrance/music collection is full of sentimental, moment or occasion-related items, especially instances where ‘one of these things is not like the other.’ Baffling as it is to the rest of my fragrance collection, I still keep bottles of Rapture and Coolwater for women around, even though I haven’t worn the latter since our honeymoon nine years ago. And ‘Somewhere in Time’ looks a bit odd in my music playlist, but it is what I was listening to the moment Mr. Ab. Scent proposed over a very humble spaghetti dinner in our little college apartment.
This reminds me of a previous NST article where a school was using scented cards to communicate with students who had difficulty doing so. It isn’t surprising just how much smell and hearing play a big part in memory, since it’s our senses that are constantly aware of the world around us even if we aren’t necessarily paying close attention.
I remember when I was a trainer for new employees at a former job, we went through a “train the trainer” class and I was introduced to the different form of learning: visual, audio, kinetic and global (a combination of all three). Most people are global learners – they retain information better if they listen to someone speaking, while having a visual aid and either take notes or do something kinetic. This is why teachers really shouldn’t yell at the kid who draws pictures during a lecture – this may be his/her’s best way of retaining information.
We did an experiment once in my jr. high science class. We were told to study for an upcoming test while listening specific music and then we would be allowed to listen to the same music while taking the test. Everyone’s scores improved by at least 5%.
None of my experiences with learning have ever utilized the sense of smell, though. All five senses are equally important, imo, but I feel the attention to and development of our sense of smell is woeful. I don’t know if it has been through my perfume journey that my sniffer has developed, but it seems I have a keener sense of smell than most people I know. Sometimes this is good – like when I can sniff out lilacs on the breeze in spring – or not so good, like when I can tell my sister hasn’t been keeping up her end of the bargain of cleaning the cat boxes! lol But I’ve also found that smell has always been a strong memory strengthener and identifier for me.
I am still puzzling over this intriguing titbit:
“A school in Liverpool is experimenting using the smell of peppermint and the sounds of rustling leaves to help improve children’s exam results.”
I found that putting in the revision time was the thing that worked for me…!
I work with a lot of clients with PTSD, and smell is a big component in traumatic memory. I’ve had women come in who don’t remember much about a childhood trauma, but will be triggered by various sensory cues. I had a client that would be really freaked out by random men (there was no common age, ethnicity, height, etc.), and eventually put together that it was any man wearing Old Spice, which is what her grandfather wore. In her case, I think the abuse occurred pre-verbally, and so it sort of makes sense that she would remember things in other ways.
I don’t know that anyone really wanted that information, but there it is.
No, no! Thank you all for sharing. I thrive on this kind of info and conversation and don’t get to participate in it much any more. Miss Kitty, your job sounds fascinating but potentially spiritually exhausting!
The worst relationship I ever had with a guy ruined Aramis’ Havana for me. I loved that scent and it’s perfect matte midnight blue martini-shaker bottle until he started using mine and then took it with him when I kicked him to the curb. I was lucky that was the only property of mine he’d stolen. (Also, I hate the music of Oasis and Sublime, and am nauseated by the sound of a south Boston accent to this day.)
LM, have you been reading my diary?
Your assessment of my job was spot-on.
Yes, tons of research out there about kinesthetic memory and trauma, none of it cheerful, exactly, but all of it fascinating and moving. The textures of certain foods can be very triggering, certain sounds, even fluctuations in temperature, or the feel of a certain kind of fabric. Our bodies remember when our minds refuse…
Well – to give the conversation a more positive spin – smell can unleash good emotions too.
I had an out of this world moment a few years back when I came across and smelled Miss Dior at a random airport. My mother used to wear it when I was little (her bottle was definitely over by the time I was age 5) and smelling it again, even reformulated, was like a time machine: I felt protected and loved. It was incredible. Needless to say, I bought her a bottle on my next visit
MilaK,
What a wonderful memory! I have had several positive memories when it comes to smell. It completely brings you back to that moment–unlike other memories from our other senses that tend to be fussy and not as powerful.
Oh yes, not all my scent memories are bad…but sometimes the bad ones are the strongest unfortunately. White Linen still reminds me of my mother even though she no longer wears it. She wore it during the majority of my adolescence, which was a tumultuous time for our relationship, yet even then I was calmed and comforted by the scent.
Btw, my mom rocks! lol
It doesn’t surprise me that music would facilitate learning–it always seems easier to me to memorize the words of a song than the words of a poem–and song lyrics are just poems set to music. There are certain songs that, when I hear one of them, immediately transport me mentally to the place I was when I first heard it. Fortunately, few of my music/memory associations are very negative.
The first time I knowingly smelled Vol de Nuit, I immediately thought of my grandmother, who had died about 12 years earlier. I knew she liked Shalimar, and in clearing out their house, I discovered among her perfumes a well-used bottle of Shalimar and a nearly empty bottle of Mitsouko, but no Vol De Nuit. I am absolutely certain that she must have worn it though, and I must have smelled it on her, because the association was so strong. Let me hasten to say that my grandmother always spoiled me and was someone I very much loved and admired, so the memory connection is entirely positive.
It could be just that “Guerlinade” base for all of Guerlain’s fragrances that you associate with her. I’ve noticed it in the vintage decants of VdN that I’ve smelled. Your grandmother had awesome taste! I’m sure you miss her.
I should experiment with the music/learning angle now that I’m in my late 30s. I have definitely noticed a decline in my ability to maintain information as well as maybe even having late onset ADD (!). I used to listen to music whenever possible. I loved music. I still love it but I find it more distracting when I drive now or am trying to really concentrate on something, etc. When I pick up my next book to read, I’ll try reading it with familiar music and see if it helps me retain what I’ve read any better. If it’s a CD I’ve listened to a million times, I don’t feel the urge to pay attention and sing along like I ususally do. Certain CDs are kind of my warm snuggly blankets – any early Duran Duran, The Cure, Cocteau Twins and soundtracks, like the one to Ivory/Merchant’s “Room with a View”. I should try reading with the same scent on, too, see how that helps me. Imagine the different kinds of perfumes you could choose for the different kinds of books you read. I’m really into modern intrepretations of fairy tales right now. Has that ever been a post question of the day? What book are you reading and what perfume do you wear while reading it?
I’m pretty sure I’ve read about an experiment in which college students were given an essential oil mixture to smell while studying, and then instructed to smell it (on a tissue or cotton ball or something) while taking their tests. Their retention and test scores improved compared to the control group. It sounds very similar to the music experiment you described, only with smell. It would be worth experimenting with it.
I am weird in that I can’t stand music. I am an only child and never had the radio on while studying; my parents had to have the TV turned down real low. I don’t hate all music. I took piano lessons for nine years and never touched it again. I like to “see” music on TV so I enjoy videos and shows like American Idol or Dancing With The Stars. My dear husband watches his TV with earphones on so I am not disturbed. He was the youngest of five so he is used to racket. I can’t wait to get out of stores because I can’t think clearly to make my purchase with all the screaming through the speakers above. My dentist is not allowed to put earphones on me or play music because it is so upsetting when I’m trying to be calm for him. I can’t have music on in the car or I have to yell over it. I have never bought a CD in my life and having just spent the last four days home alone, never once put on music. I love the quiet. So—I don’t think music while studying would ever have helped my scores at university!