Olfaction and Memory

Our sense of smell triggers memory greater than any of our other four senses. The olfactory cortex is located in the limbic system near the amygdala, the brain structure which stores our emotion. I was thinking about the power of my sense of smell on Monday, the day when the weather decided to make a sudden transition from 20degrees the day before to 57 degrees. I know the weather isn't exactly an attractive topic of discussion but it was captivating enough to make me break down.

When I got home from school, I got out of the car and suddenly the environment smelled all too familiar: it smelled like spring. When I took in a deep breath, my lungs weren't attacked by the sting of cold air and the tip of my nose wasn't frozen. Rather, I took a deep breath and I could practically smell the leaves on the trees, the pollen from the flowers, the grass, the sun, and the everything that was Mother Nature. Suddenly, images of my past spun through my head. One of the things I thought about was how I should be at lacrosse practice. Freshman and sophmore year I played lacrosse, a spring sport, and that day after school smelled just like it did everyday after school on the field.

The sense of smell is one of the most powerful senses and one of the most important to me. With it I can smell the pancakes my dad makes in the morning, my mother's perfume, the natural scent of pine (which is amazing), and it provides me with the ultimate power to remember.