렛미톡광장

The Science of Smell and Memory
작성자  : 관리자
When you smell a familiar food, the delicious odor may conjure up a sweet memory, such as a holiday spent with your extended family. This memory may be so vivid that you may start to believe you have traveled back in time.

Indeed, it may not surprise you to know that smell and memory are often closely linked. Over the years, researchers in various countries have studied this connection. They have found that our sense of smell has the strongest link to memory and emotion among our five senses.

One major reason for this can be found in the way our brains are structured. Namely, the sense of smell connects differently in our brains than the other senses do.

When we hear, see, touch, or taste something, the information first goes to a part of the brain called the thalamus.* Then, the thalamus interprets the information and relays it to the areas of the brain responsible for memory and emotion.

However, when we smell something, this information gets sent to a different part of the brain called the olfactory bulb.* The olfactory bulb only deals with smells and has a more direct connection to those areas related to memory and emotion in the brain.

This gives our sense of smell a very powerful link to memories and emotions. It is also a big reason that the whiff of a familiar odor can evoke such intense feelings or detailed recollection of a past instance.

According to scientists, humans evolved from simpler organisms billions of years ago, and smell was one of the first senses to develop. Evidence of this evolutionary process can still be seen in the special status of the olfactory bulb.

* thalamus 시상

* olfactory bulb 후각망울