Why fragrances bring back powerful emotions and memories
Scent and memory have always been closely connected. After all, you can’t spell ‘reminiscent’ without ‘scent’. When I was 15, my favorite perfume smelled like vanilla. Fast-forward almost 20 years, and even a hint of vanilla still takes me right back to high school. Back when Starbucks caramel frappuccinos were cool, My Chemical Romance was hot, and the biggest drama of the day was choosing my top friends on Bebo. So…how come I still can’t smell vanilla without being sent straight back to the mid-noughties?
The science of scent and memory
Scent’s powerful ability to transport us to a certain time or place likely comes down to our brain’s geography. When we use our other senses (sight, touch, taste, and sound), our brain sends information to the thalamus, which then passes it along to the relevant part of the brain.
Scents, on the other hand, skip the thalamus altogether. Instead they head straight to the olfactory bulb. This is key, because the olfactory bulb lives right next to the hippocampus (which is responsible for creating and storing memories) and the amygdala (which handles emotional processing).
So while the other senses have to make a pit-stop, our sense of smell has a direct line straight to the parts of our brain that deal with memories and emotions. That’s likely why fragrances are capable of triggering such detailed, intense, and even long-lost memories.
Fragrances and childhood memories
Experts say scents are particularly good at evoking very old memories, often those linked to early childhood. Marcel Proust’s 1913 novel, ‘À la Recherche du Temps Perdu’, is one of pop culture’s most famous examples of this connection between scent and long-lost memory.
In his hugely influential book, Proust described how the taste and smell of a madeleine cake unlocks a sudden rush of nostalgic childhood memories. The anecdote gave birth to the expression ‘Proust’s madeleine’, which means a sensory cue that brings back a long-lost memory.
We don’t quite know why scent can send us reeling so far back in time. It may be because our sense of smell is fully developed before we’re even born, and remains our strongest sense right up until about the age of 10. It could also be because we experience most fragrances for the first time as a child – which means our brain forms a stronger connection to those early events. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that our old friend Proust was onto something.
Scent’s effect on behavior and emotion
Fragrance doesn’t just conjure up old memories. It can also influence human behavior. This idea is so prevalent, there’s even a name for it; ‘Aromachology’. Coined in the 80s, Aromachology is the scientific study of the effect of certain scents on our emotions and moods.
Aromachologists use essential oils to analyze how odors stimulate different areas of the brain –triggering emotions like relaxation, happiness, and exhilaration. Through their work, they’ve found that fragrances can both positively and negatively impact behaviors like alertness and concentration levels. For example, jasmine has been found to improve problem-solving and motivation. And peppermint oil has been shown to improve cognitive performance (combined with cinnamon, it could even ease frustration and increase alertness).
Aromachology is still just getting started, and more connections between scents and emotions are being found all the time. Which just goes to show how powerful fragrances can be.
Aromachologists use essential oils to analyze how odors stimulate different areas of the brain –triggering emotions like relaxation, happiness, and exhilaration.
Creating new memories with Poète
Like my vanilla-scented teenage years, key times in our lives can be defined by the fragrances we choose to surround ourselves with. That’s why Poète’s talented scent-composers have put so much effort into crafting truly memorable fragrances. The kind that you’d love your grandkids to remember you by someday.
Using the best and safest ingredients from Grasse, France, Poète’s scents were made to evoke feeling and memory, time and place. I’ve already found my new favorite…and no, it’s not vanilla.
We’re hard at work crafting Poète to perfection, and we want you to be part of the journey. Sign up to our mailing list below to be part of the Poète family, and one of the first to experience our newest fragrances. And who knows? You might just meet your new signature scent.