Which smells bring back memories for you?
Aug 26, 2018, 11:56 AM
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
If you’ve ever smelled a food, flower, or cosmetic fragrance and instantly been transported back to another time and place in your life, you’re not alone.
A new study shows that smells have a way of implanting memories in our brains for us because of a newly-discovered link between the hippocampus — the part of the brain that stores memories — and the anterior olfactory nucleus, which processes odors. In fact, scientists are looking at using sniff tests to detect Alzheimer’s Disease.
Dori hypothesizes that years from now, smelling a forest fire will take Washingtonians — wherever they may be living in the future — back to the smoky summer of 2018 in the Pacific Northwest.
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In that spirit, Dori invited listeners to call in and share some of the most powerful smells that trigger memories for them.
Matt in Seattle proved Dori’s theory — he already has a memory related to the smoke. The scent reminds him of his childhood just south of Redding, CA, where forest fires were prevalent every summer.
David in Bellevue said that the exhaust from an old diesel bus reminds him of traveling with the Seattle Cascade Drum and Bugle Corps by bus when he was 15.
“I’m downtown all the time, and the minute a bus goes by, it zings me back to 15 years old,” David said.
Tyler in Lake Stevens also had a bus-related smell-memory — the scent of fake leather reminds him of the seats on his elementary school buses.
Continuing in the theme of the idyllic elementary school days, Colman in Seattle said that the smell of a good old PB&J sandwich takes him back to elementary school.
What smells instantly trigger good memories for you? Let the Dori Monson Show know in the comments below or text 98973.