How Smells Trigger Memories 

This makes scents

It's funny because I was literally thinking about how I could use it to help me study, very interesting video thank you

So smelling blood makes you think of all those people you might of stabbed in that dark alley that said happy birthday on that rainy day?

Unless you have a smell associated with trying to learn Maxwell's equations when you were little and your parents were cultivating the physics nerd in you, of course. But that's some serious levels of preparation right there!

This is very interesting. I don't have many childhood memories, could this be because I've been anosmic since I was 6? So if I ever got my smell back is it possible I could remember lost childhood memories?

Please explain why we sing/want to sing in the shower or just sing in general Probably has to do with seretonin, maybe

This episode triggered me

my first girlfriend when I was 7 wore her mother's Tabu perfume. when I smell Tabu anywhere I think of her

How about when smells seem familiar but you can't figure out what they are?

Sometimes a certain smell can take me back to when I was young. How come I'm never able to identify where it's coming from? I'd make a candle out of it if I ever found it try to sell it never sell out of it I'd probably only sell one.

A few years ago I smelled something that triggered a memory so strong that it felt like I was transported back to when I first smelled it. The sights and sounds of the memory stopped me in my tracks. It was of the first time in Las Vegas. It was so vivid.

Omg this happens all the time like i smell my grandmas perfume or homemade mac and cheese and i remember so many things and same thing with songs.

So... sniffing all that glue back in college wasn't a good idea?

This sort of stuff is always interesting to me as I became anosmic (no sense of smell) after having a brain haemorrhage about 8 years ago. I think for me it is more like "how memories trigger smells". Like when I cook bacon sometimes I swear I can smell it, but then I think its just my brain remembering what bacon smells like and attempts to fill in the gaps. I'm not sure if that's how it actually works but it sure seems that way. I get a lot of people saying to me "you're lucky you can't smell that" when they smell something disgusting, to which I reply "would you tell a blind person they were lucky because they could not see something ugly?". That usually shuts them up and makes them think. I miss the smell of cut grass, bacon and pretty much any food that is baked :-(

Sometimes a certain smell can take me back to when I was young how come I'm never able to identify where it's coming from

This happens to me so hardcore when I listen to songs I haven't heard in forever, so it's not not just smells

2:04 Whiskey reminds me of my childhood too.

why do cats like boxes

I just smelled something a minute ago before I watched this video that reminded me of my ex girlfriend.my heart now. sorry about my grammar.

Sometimes I'll smell something really random that reminds me of an event in my childhood yet I don't actually remember what that event is when smelling it. If that makes any sense. Edit: As I scroll down I see I'm not the only one lol

This happens to me so often! Whenever I smell smoke (like from a fireplace or when someone is having a bbq) it takes me back to my childhood and to my favorite camping place, which I have been going to every year for 24 years!

The Thalamus looks like a grinning xenomorph in a trenchcoat flashing people.

This is one of my favorite phenomena. It's why when I smell English tea rose I think of my great great aunt who was a nun. She always gave me soap that was that scent. It makes me think of writing her letters when I was 6 and how she told me that things only truly are valuable if you use them, like the soap she always gave me. I still buy tea rose perfume oil because of how I feel when I wear it.

Sometimes even the smell of rain and spring weather triggers my memories.

Everything makes so much sense now!! I was wondering if it was just with me. Cos when I smell new books (the thick ones like encyclopaedia that has these glossy pages and they have a distinct scent) I have a vivid recollection of reading the science books my dad bought for me when I was like 8 or 9. And when I go into an air conditioned room, the cold feeling reminds me of when I used to watch national geographic/Cartoon Network/TLC etc. on Saturday mornings when I was in like year 7 or year 8 in an air-conditioned living room and my mom would be cooking in the other room.. I really want to remember those memories and I wish in the future, technology that can project my deepest memories onto a screen would be invented...

I put perfume on my knuckles and when my teachers say this will be on a test or I think it's important I smell it and repeat it in my head and that helps me remember.

And this is why the smell of alcohol can be the bane of one's existence for those abused as children or assaulted at some point in life. Also... Old Spice.

"Sometimes a certain smell will take me back to when I was young, How come I'm never able to identify where it's coming from?" Now you know, Twenty One Pilots.

Fart while learning Maxwell's Equations. Then you can show off years later at Taco Bell.

One of the oldest memories I recalled by smell happened when I was working at a Radioshack, stocking shelves, and suddenly smelled something I hadn't smelled in nearly 20 years. I immediately recalled "Shrinkidinks", a kids art / craft where you paint onto the plastic, put it in the oven, and it shrinks, causing more vibrant / denser colors. Near as I could tell, I was around 3 when this memory occurred. I could even see the oven from a height of around 2' off the floor, the viewpoint of a toddler, I could barely see over the kitchen table. Turns out I was stocking wiring insulators, which were made of shrinkable plastic tubing, made to be heated and shrink around the wires. Go figure!

Taste too, every time eat a Hot Tamale candy it takes me back to when I watched Star Wars as a kid in 77 when I always bought them when watching movies

I'm happy to finally figure out why I have such vivid memories of my child hood when I smell the hot air around summer time. I used to go on vacations all the time when I was a kid. Since I got older all I do it work, kind of depressing actually.

Having different deodorants gives me different nostalgia feelings throughout the years...

What? No mentioning of Marcel Proust? ;-)

My mum died when I was 8 and I have bottle of her perfume and whenever I smell it I remember her smell and her

You actually did that all without mentioning Proust? Won't the other Green be mad?

Although you cannot associate an entire concept to a smell, we should still be able to associate the smell to the thread of sequences which lead to an already chunked memory of that concept, as if using the smell as a concept marker. Something similar probably occurs when your told chewing the same flavored gum while studying and taking a test will help you remember more.

If a smell can trigger a memory; can a memory trigger a smell. This is because sometimes I see pictures which triggers the memory but also the smell.

I seem to remember my childhood better than most folks, I think due to the various babysitters I was left with. They were old women, most of them, and they all had some rather distinguished smells in the homes. Recently I was wasting some time in a thrift store and came across an odor that instantly kicked in some childhood memories. I also immediately remembered they were associated with those old women who watched over me.

It reminds me when the seasons change it always makes me think of things that happened during that time in the past.

You sure that smells won't help remember stuff for the exam? Sure, it's more connected to the earlier memories, but let's say you find a strong smell that doesn't remind you of anything (yet), and you smell it all the time while learning a certain thing. Maybe combine that with a certain sound or anything like that, even a certain mood if you can do that, and then reproduce these in the exam. That should improve your memory, shouldn't it? After all, we are more likely to remember things in the corresponding environment / situation, and every cue (including smell) helps.

thats soo Fn bizarre...iv been having not just memories but almost what id call a flashback triggered by smells, n every single one of them is from when i was younger, around 10 or younger is exactly the age range id give it to like u mentioned iv been working on getting off suboxone for the past 2 years but iv just hit this weird plateau, suddenly my sense of smell came back n its been OVERwhelming to say the least its almost more than i can deal with it triggers memories SO hardcore i almost feel like im living them again n theyre all good memories but a lot r of ppl ill never b able to see again : / so its depressing as F

I know I’m late to this video, but I was just downstairs getting a snack and it’s late at night, and I walked out of the pantry and I smelled something I haven’t smelled in years. My grandma’s old house. I used to go to her house every month because she lives in Massachusetts and I used to live in New York. I I haven’t been to her house in 6 years but I had tears in my eyes because I miss belong little and being so happy and going to her house and just having a great time.

I always wondered about this concerning my smell because it seems to be the most accurate pertaining to my memory

When I smell this type of aftershave (forgot the name) I remember playing Saints row 2 and running to the clothes shop near the pirate ship. It's always the same memory and plays out the same way. But for it to trigger the aftershave has to be on someone else and not by me spraying it around my room :-D also it needs to be a surprise. If I know its coming it won't work. Its so random I think its because that kind of aftershave I never smelled before so because I smelled it when playing saint row 2 my brain was like "holy shit wtf Is that amazing smell? DYLAN STOP PLAYING SAINT ROW... I need you to remember this shit" well saint row 2 is amazing so anything that brings back them memories I don't care if it never stops. :-)

this happened to me last week, thank you for making this video it made so much sense. Definitely agree that it brings back feelings of how you felt when you first smelt it rather than what you were doing at the time

when i smell stuff i get a feeling that i smelled it before but i dont remember what it is. Like the smell of chicken clams and fish all together gives me a very nastolgic feeling bu ti dont know why.

I wanted to memorize this episode. So I dropped my bat and sniffed it in order to tie it to learning this information..... I hope it works.

He really nose what he's talking about

For me, music (certain songs) triggers memories almost as good as smells... Why is that?

I can't figure out the other way around I can think of a lemon then smell the scent of a lemon. What's that.

when I smell shit I think about violent thoughts... is that normal? does anyone do this?

If you watch Breaking bad... Heisenberg already explained this to Gustavo

Just the other day I lit a match and I remembered camping up in the mountains.

Smell won't help you remember, but TASTE will. Chew the same flavour of gum (Preferably a more exotic one you hardly never or have never tried) when you study and when you take the test, this helps stimulating your memories related to that specific study session, therefor allowing you to *Possibly* get better test scores

I came here because i literally remember hugging him and i can smell his perfume...

this happens to me with a lot of smells that evoke some of the memories from my childhood, like the moment when i notice the smell of an eraser and i remember when i was erasing something on a paper in kindergarten or certain smells that I notice when i'm outside. It doesn't happen very often but when it does it takes you back to those years when everything seemed new to you.

Chlorine reminds me of swimming at a pool at the YMCA. I love that concentrated, warm chlorine smell.

Sometimes for me, smells are associated with emotions and memories

I wonder if this is an evolutionary leftover? Do other primates have really good smellers? Also, this makes me think the memories associated with our younger selves are heavily associated with perception because that is our entire role when we are young. We must look and listen and learn to be a whole human as we grow. Interesting.

Why do your hands get wrinkly after swimming for a long time then they go back to normal???

So that's why I always remember getting molested at the circus when I smell cotton candy!

sometimes during the summer i smell something that reminds me of when i was young. i'm not sure what it is but i assume its flowers. the brain really is magnificent at times

Do you think that a certain combination of notes could trigger a certain smell memory... Like if I played b flat would it be possible that everyone thought of cheese???

Remembering smells is most likely an evolutionary defense mechanism to ward us away from things that are toxic, or bring us closer to things that we need. Oddly enough, there is a brand of hand soap that some schools use that always reminds me of my childhood...

I have conceptual memories back to when I was 2 years old. My first was sitting in a highchair and my dad called my mom on the phone from work and i wanted to tell him how my white rice i was eating was all sticking together. My first feeling of nostalgia was when i was 6 yrs old hanging out with family friends and remembering stuff we did when I was 4 and missing those 'old' times. :)

I smell the coffee. That reminds me....

Sometimes a certain smell will take me back to when I was young...

Reminds me of this one girl I knew in high school who had the inability to smell and so my first question was, "so.. You have no idea what a fart smells like?!" Btw, does anyone else agree that Chai Tea smells like Christmas? No?... Okay. 😅

Could you please do a video on the science behind first person and third person memories? I always seem to experience my memories in third person, where as some of my friends remember almost exclusively in first. Does it correlate to dreams the same way? Thanks in advance, T

I sometimes randomly remember different smells for no reason at all. And they also trigger memories. Take that, science! I'm a special little sunflower (because special little snowflakes are hard to come by in summer)! #Kappa

I'm only 21, and this happens to me quite often. Usually the smells invoke bittersweet nostalgic memories of my mid teen years, but on at least one occasion i've smelt something which has made me feel nostalgic for a time that has only just recently happened (relatively speaking).

This happens especially with books!!! ESPECIALLY WITH BOOKS!!!!!!

The 4 notable smells that trigger nostalgia for me are: .Campfires .Brewed coffee, especially at a public coffee place, such as Starbucks. .School buses. (I'm sure somebody will agree with me on these 3 smells.) .The interior of the MAX (a Light Rail system) in Portland, OR, as well as the Portland Streetcar.

What if you just… don’t have this. I can’t think of a single time in my life that a smell triggered a memory. At least directly. Sometimes, I’ll identify a smell, then, thinking about the source of the smell will remind of something. But there’s always that extra step and it isn’t necessarily a particularly vivid memory. When I hear everybody around me talk about this phenomenon, I begin to worry that there’s something wrong with me. That my brain is defective in some way. 😞

Question, one nostril will allow more air to pass through so that it gets a wider range of particles it can react to, would this influence which parts of the brain interpret the information?

The smell of sawdust always reminds me of playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. When my family's house was being renovated, that's the game I was playing.

As an anosmic (no sense of smell) I find this so bizarre! But even without this I have really good memories from when I was little so at least I'm not missing out on that

I'v experienced this before! Back when I first played The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess I used to always play it in my basement, which had a certain smell to it. As I got older I didn't go down there as much, but when I did I would always think of Twilight Princess. I played tons of other games down there, but it was always that particular one that I would remember. Weird right?

I get that with a specific perfume/body spray smell; takes me WAY back to when I was younger, don't know how old. But that aside, here's a particularly weird one: I've always had a crazy powerful mind, and at times, I would sit there and really think about how a specific mechanical character would smell if I were close enough to them (told you this was weird ahaha). I could perceive it so clearly that I could almost smell it, then when I DID come across a similar smell, the memory of that character always shoots to the forefront of my mind. It's simultaneously like seeing an old friend again when you haven't in forever, plus a sense of "HOLY SHIT" because something tangible matches your inference. When I think of the typical running-computer scent of warm circuits/wires, I tend to think of Johnny Five, or even Alpha 5 (what's with the fives? XD). More industrial scents remind me of Transformers, or even Jaegers. On occasion, that diesel/industrial smell will remind me of the eighteen-wheeler my dad had years ago; I'd sit on the step after he got home and let the wind blow the smell in my face (fucking heaven, man). I can even use this power perception to imagine what an ability may feel like (a constant cold, staticky rush down the arm for, say, demonic energy), or an external force acting upon me, and even go so far as how something mechanical would translate onto an organic or androidal template, how a short somewhere would affect the body, the kind of pain it would cause, if any, etcetera, etcetera. .......... Uhh... This got longer than I meant it to XD whoops :P

Random off topic question: I was just watching Minutephysics' video with Neil deGrasse Tyson, A Brief History of Everything. The video briefly discusses how the Earth's atmosphere became as oxygen rich as it did, and is, with some of the oxygen forming Ozone, i.e. O3, while other oxygen formed O2, the stuff we breath. This led me to wonder, why is it that O3 is so prevalent higher up in the atmosphere? I would think that O2 would end up further from the Earth, being that it has one less oxygen atom. Is there some reason for this, or is there actually more O2 up there than I am assuming?

I got a new Mac just recently, and while we opened the case and everything I smelt a very familiar scent of my very first windows XP computer back when I was like 6 or something (17 now). I was actually surprised because I wasn't expecting to smell that from a Mac, but damn did it bring back good memories :D

"Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is. A certain flower or a whiff of smoke can bring up experiences long forgotten. Books smell musty and rich. The knowledge gained from a computer is…it has no texture, no context. It’s there and then it’s gone. If it’s to last, then the getting of knowledge should be tangible. It should be, um, smelly." From "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"

how does this work with music?

Really nerdy. . . but when I was 7 (about 8) I got World of Warcraft for Christmas when it came out. I remember playing SO much because of the smell of all the sugary candies I would be eating while playing WoW after christmas. Guh. . . good times.

BASSICALLY It all takes place in the hippocampus, Neural connections are formed. The senses make the neurons express signals that go right back to the same part of the brain as before, where memory is stored. It’s something called relational memory.

Whenever I walk past a blooming honeysuckle bush I immediately feel deeply happy and relaxed. Only years later did I connect the dots - there was a honeysuckle bush in the backyard where I grew up and those happy summer days playing in the yard (yes, this was before Nintendo) were accompanied by the sweet smell of honeysuckle. Knowing this, I can manipulate my mood by walking up to a honeysuckle and inhaling deeply :-)

Who likes the smells of coconuts..of freshly cut virginian grass,of cooked bacon,and fine wine?Who remembers and prefers the smell of grease and wet copper?Of cattle waste and kangaroo fur..?

Today I was watching RU-vid, and all of a sudden I smell what smells like horse shows. Food trucks, horses, horse droppings, etc. I get confused because, I don't have a show till January and I'm at home. Then it feels like im there. My eyes are wide open, and memories flash through my head. I get the same feeling of butterflies, when I'm at a show. I love showing and it helps me. I feel the feeling of my riding clothes, butterflies, etc. Then I almost start to hear the noises. The microphone, trainers, horse noises. Then the memories flash more and it's almost to the point where I can walk around. I almost started crying, like I did at one show. I started shaking and coming back. It felt so nice, and real. I still have butterflies. I don't know if that's normal. Please someone tell me if it is.

How about the reason I came to this video is because I just saw an image of a Kenny Wayne Shepherd album. I was never really a fan. I was 12 when this album came out. The image was familiar though because my dad owned it. However the image invoked a scent reaction to the smell of a 1990s music store the Wall. Weird lol

I've got a question for you that just started bugging me: If the effects of gravity become weaker the further you get from and object, like Earth, wouldn't it be easy for a rocket to blast off the planet? The further away it gets, the less force it would need to pull further away, right? Help me out! My brains gonna 'splode if I keep trying to figure this out!

What is the consensus at the moment on whether or not smell is a quantum mechanical process? The(re was a study a few years ago that showed fruit flies preferred H2O over D2O (deuterium water) but it was somewhat debated. Is this still the case? I haven't been keeping up with recent studies.

The smell of car tires gives me Oder-Evoked Autobiographical Memeories. I know, super strange. But it all makes sense to me.

Funny, I've been told that smelling a strong (maybe) scent, preferably citrus, while studying and applying that same scent right before a test would help me remember things better. Guess that's not true, then?

These are explained in Buddhism a 2500+ old truth. Not just smell its relevant for all the sensors. Otherwise , people cant literally function.

I was just laying on the bed and I smelt burning wood while something was cooking in my kitchen. Made me think of old days, even though I am not old just 16 actually.

The smell that I can smell is quite like not from my past rather it's from the future yet I don't know what that is yet...I don't feel nostalgic, just familiarized by the smell..

Great video, but don't put images that reinforce the false idea that we only have 5 senses... You know better, scishow....

Litterly just having the window open and smelling the outside brings back memories of playing Minecraft lol

Automotive grease brings back memories of my grandpa.