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This scent-processing area
of the brain is next to the
amygdala (the memory
creating section of the
brain) and the hippocampus
(the part of the brain that
creates emotions).
Most of us can
immediately identify
at least one smell
that makes us smile
Vanilla scores high on
the list of prefered smells
and is a native of South
and Central America
and the Caribbean; and
the first people to have
cultivated it seem to
have been the Totonacs
of Mexico’s east coast.
Our sense of smell comes ready and rearing to
go from birth – it is fully developed from day one,
and is the most active of the five senses until age
10 (when sight takes over). This early development
may be why scents affect us so intensely – that
and the fact that our sense of smell (unlike
our other senses) goes straight to the brain!
Ok, mini science lesson: when our sense
of taste, sight, hearing and touch receive
information – let’s say we touch something
hot – our sensory neurons are responsible for
getting that message to the brain. However,
the neurons make a pit stop at a relay station
before the message “this feels hot”, reaches the
brain. In contrast, when we smell something,
the neurons that carry the scent message travel
straight to the brain without stopping at the
relay station. Basically our sense of smell has a
direct, uninterrupted connection to our brain!
When scent reaches the brain it goes
to the “olfactory bulb” which is the part of
the brain responsible for processing scent.
This scent-processing area of the brain is
next to the amygdala (the memory creating
section of the brain) and the hippocampus
(the part of the brain that creates emotions).
Unbeknownst to us, our brain associates some
scents with particular emotions and memories
then locks them away for safekeeping.
“Unbeknownst to us,
our brain associates
some scents with
particular emotions and
memories
THE SENSES ISSUE