Scientists have found why certain smells recall feelings nostalgia and can recall distant memories. The scientists say an area the brain is responsible assigning memories to smells and storing them decades. The area can instantly recall the memories great clarity years later if a person encounters the smell again. Christina Strauch, from the Ruhr University in Germany, said smells are stored the olfactory brain. The word olfactory means anything related to the sense smell. She said: "It is known that the piriform cortex is able to temporarily store olfactory memories. We wanted to know if that applies to long-term memories as well."
There are a multitude scents that can transport us back to our childhood. Smells cookies baking in the oven or the perfume of an elderly aunt can bring back surprising recollections of growing . Professor Strauch said certain scents can take you away another point time. Strauch said some odours can make you wish you were actually back a certain point of time, or make you want to escape. She said it depends on whether or not the smell has a positive or negative association. Aromatherapists partly depend this for their patients. Smells can even encourage you to buy things stores. Many stores introduce fragrances to shoppers to evoke nostalgic memories to buy things they loved years ago.
