In celebratory countries it smells like Christmas: for example, in Germany, the scent of fresh pine, sugar cookies, mulled wine fills the air. And they are likely to evoke emotions or memories in the minds of many people.
“When you stink [this familiar] The scent again, you’re back in memories – baking Christmas cookies in Grandma’s kitchen,” said Dr. Olaf Conrad of Otorhinolaryngology at Erlangen University Hospital.
Otorhinolaryngology is a branch of medicine that specializes in the head and neck, often called ear, nose, and throat medicine.
Of course, the scent doesn’t just evoke Christmas memories. When I was growing up, my grandmother would come over once a week after school to make pancakes for me. She’s been dead for many years, but whenever I smell a pancake, I immediately think of her. And memory is much stronger than what it feels like when looking at old photos. I often wonder why this is so.
Fragrance – a powerful catalyst for memories
Smell is processed in the paleocortex, the oldest part of our brain. Conrad explained that olfactory processes occur close to the amygdala, which is responsible for our emotional reactions, and the hippocampus, which is important for forming memories. Then again, it’s no wonder that scent and memories are so closely linked!
“Tests have shown that our sense of smell is the strongest sensory perception when it comes to evoking memories,” Conrad told DW. “And this is also true for negative memories. For example, people returning from war or children who grew up in a battlefield get triggered by the smell of gunpowder.”
The reason the connection between scent and formative memories is so strong is that important, specific memories are “saved in the brain without a time-stamp,” Conrad said.
In other words: when we encounter a smell associated with a formative memory, our brain does not provide important information that what we are experiencing is something from the past. This applies to sad experiences as well as Christmas traditions or memories of a loved one.
Overly sensitive sense of smell can be painful
Most people will experience an association between a smell and a memory or emotion at some point. But a highly sensitive person (HSP) experiences sensory stimulation at a much higher level than the average person.
For many highly sensitive individuals, this means that they smell things that people don’t even notice—or that smells are too strong for them. Fragrances can make HSPs feel physically ill, put them into emotional turmoil, or prevent them from concentrating.
Daphne, a young entrepreneur from Germany, is an HSP. For him, the scent of the perfume his mother wears is a strong emotional trigger.
“I have this problem with Chanel No. 5,” Daphne told DW. “When I smell it, I immediately dive into the pain I felt with it [death of] My mother.”
She said the difference between HSPs and people with regular levels of sensory sensitivity is that once the scent brings her back to the memory of her mother’s passing, it will remain in the memory for a long time unless she “makes an active effort to bring herself out of it.”
Daphne said, “Within a few seconds the world fades away, and you feel exactly the same way you felt then.”
How is smell used in medicine
The strong connection between smell and emotions can be put to good use.
“Palliative care professionals have recognized how calming aromatherapy can provide,” Conrad said.
While smell may not help treat Parkinson’s disease, this sense is an indicator of the neurodegenerative disease. Due to Parkinson’s, patients lose their ability to smell.
“There is no one in the early stages of Parkinson’s who can still smell well,” Conrad said.
As for the connection between the smell and Christmas memories, Conrad told DW about his personal experience with it.
“The biggest moment in our house was when we put up the tree, it was always too big for that small room,” he said. “The smell of fresh pine always puts me in the Christmas mood.”
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbani