Abstract
This article discusses the special features of odor-evoked memory and the current state-of-the-art in odor-evoked memory research to show how these unique experiences may be able to influence and benefit psychological and physiological health. A review of the literature leads to the conclusion that odors that evoke positive autobiographical memories have the potential to increase positive emotions, decrease negative mood states, disrupt cravings, and reduce physiological indices of stress, including systemic markers of inflammation. Olfactory perception factors and individual difference characteristics that would need to be considered in therapeutic applications of odor-evoked-memory are also discussed. This article illustrates how through the experimentally validated mechanisms of odor-associative learning and the privileged neuroanatomical relationship that exists between olfaction and the neural substrates of emotion, odors can be harnessed to induce emotional and physiological responses that can improve human health and wellbeing.
Highlights
Odor memory is a central feature of olfactory cognition, and can be divided into two distinct cognitive-perceptual processes [1,2,3]
The most distinctive characteristics of odor-evoked memories, and why they are important to human health and wellbeing is that they evoke more emotional and evocative recollections than memories triggered by any other cue
Positive moods and emotions are known to be beneficial for psychological health [30] and odor-evoked memories have been shown to be more positive than memories elicited by other cues
Summary
Odor memory is a central feature of olfactory cognition, and can be divided into two distinct cognitive-perceptual processes [1,2,3]. The second type of odor memory is odor-evoked memory—autobiographical memories and associations that are triggered by odors This type of memory has not been directly examined for the ways in which it may be involved in human health, and an effort to do so is the subject of the present article. The most distinctive characteristics of odor-evoked memories, and why they are important to human health and wellbeing is that they evoke more emotional and evocative recollections than memories triggered by any other cue. During the process of recollecting an odor-evoked autobiographical memory, the amygdala is more activated than when similar odors that do not evoke a memory are smelled [18].
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