Olfactory memories?

[birdistheword]

All the time. Mine are mostly related to cologne/perfume. Certain smells relate to certain parts of my life/relationships and always take me right back there.

[papie]

Yes! It is so powerful and sudden too.

[Deleted]

Yes. Chanel No. 5 immediately conjures memories of my first grade teacher.

[mskitkat]

I will only use a specific brand of laundry detergent because it smells like my grandmother's summer house. Not sure how it does, but even my siblings agree.

[2boys2danes]

Yes...Our original great dane Dixie lived to be 11 and when we got our two "new" danes (who are now 3) I had taken them to get a bath at a different groomer/vet (I could never bring myself to go back to the vet Dixie went to her whole life and where we had to put her to sleep) and when they came home they had used the same shampoo or whatever and I lost it....completely. Its never happened since then but I was overwhelmed by that memory.

Also H's mother killed herself and lay dead in the home for 3 months (loooong backstory, she was mentally ill and they hadnt seen each other in 10 years). We have a few pieces of her furniture in our home and every once in awhile we catch a whiff -- and its been over 10 years. ugh

[2boys2danes]

Oh and one time my mom and dad were staying at my apartment and we had to take her to the ER and she was in the hospital for a week with heart problems...I came back to my apt and slept with her nightgown because it smelled like her and I was scared. I was a full grown woman then and it still brings tears to my eyes

[blueshirt2003]

Definitely so.

I found a hair product that smells down to the T like wipes I used for my oldest son. I was blown away and it made me nostalgic.

Sometimes I feel like I can smell the plastic from a baby crib basket thing I played with as a toddler. It's awesome but so freaky.

[snipsnsnails]

Yep, I swear I read that this sense has the strongest ties to our memory receptors, so the memories they trigger come back the strongest out of all of our senses.

[Deleted]

I have tons of smell related memories. It drives dh crazy. I'm a big associator in general. Certain music will make me remember a certain moment. Sounds, movie scenes, people, clothes, etc etc ect.

[birdistheword]

I had this little pot of solid, Barbie perfume when I was little. Every now and then I will catch a whiff of that exact smell and I drive myself crazy trying to figure out where it's coming from. I immediately flash back to memories of playing with my Barbies. Such a cool phenomenon.

[sushi]

I just had one today.

I got my hair cut, and whatever product they put in it smells like the minister who spread my mom's ashes. That was 26 years ago. So fucking weird.

Night blooming jasmine usually brings me to a very happy place, although it's tied to a memory of a specific place, not one particular instance.

[sushi]

Oct 2, 2013 22:06:58 GMT -5 snipsnsnails said:

Yep, I swear I read that this sense has the strongest ties to our memory receptors, so the memories they trigger come back the strongest out of all of our senses.

I've read the same. I don't know how true it is for humanity, but it seems true for me.

[zoidberg]

Limbic system FTW.

[emsumm]

When I smell baking challah, I'm 7 at Camp Gan Israel. Without fail, every Friday.

[emsumm]

When I smell baking challah, I'm 7 at Camp Gan Israel. Without fail, every Friday.

[studytime45]

"The olfactory bulb has intimate access to the amygdala, which processes emotion, and the hippocampus, which is responsible for associative learning.

Despite the tight wiring, however, smells would not trigger memories if it weren't for conditioned responses. When you first smell a new scent, you link it to an event, a person, a thing or even a moment. Your brain forges a link between the smell and a memory -- associating the smell of chlorine with summers at the pool or lilies with a funeral. When you encounter the smell again, the link is already there, ready to elicit a memory or a mood. Chlorine might call up a specific pool-related memory or simply make you feel content. Lilies might agitate you without your knowing why. This is part of the reason why not everyone likes the same smells.

Because we encounter most new odors in our youth, smells often call up childhood memories. But we actually begin making associations between smell and emotion before we're even born. Infants who were exposed to alcohol, cigarette smoke or garlic in the womb show a preference for the smells. To them, the smells that might upset other babies seem normal or even comforting."

science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/smell3.htm

[lucky513]

the smell of motor oil reminds me of my dad
I have my grandmas dresser it still smells like her she wore taboo perfume and one of the drawers had tons of taboo powder init I couldn't get it all out so now I smell her every time i go in my closet

[bonquiqui]

So many

[mcsangel2]

Oct 2, 2013 21:55:17 GMT -5 @bigtowlittletoe said:

Yes. Chanel No. 5 immediately conjures memories of my first grade teacher.

For me, it reminds me of one of my aunts.

[mcsangel2]

The last day janitor at my office used some kind of cleaning product that smelled sweet (you would think I would be able to figure out what it was). And every time I walked into a room where she had just cleaned, BOOM, I am transported back to Mary Moppets, which was my preschool. I am 41 now.

[pbutter]

All of the time. Music does this to me too.

[Deleted]

I'm just stuck on the fact that your piano has a smell.

[Jalapeñomel]

Yes if course!

[wowhead]

Tons!
Youth Dew is my grandma.
Old Spice is my grandpa.
We were just talking over the weekend about the smell of my great grandmother's house. I haven't smelled her house in over 20 years but i can think of her and instantly remember that smell.

I also have a phantom smell issue. Every now and then I smell cigarette smoke in times and places where it is impossible. It didn't start until my grandpa passed. He was always a heavy smoker so I just write it off as being him.

[Deleted]

My mom thinks all white people's houses smell like butter. LOL.

[FastHands]

If someone's hands smell like smoke it makes me think of my dad and loose baby teeth (I'd always make him pull loose teeth because they creeped me out, and his hand would obvs be right under my nose).

[FastHands]

Oct 2, 2013 22:46:36 GMT -5 @misoangry said:

My mom thinks all white people's houses smell like butter. LOL.

legit lol
That does remind me of another one of mine -- there is some spice that is used in Vietnamese cooking that permeated the house of my closest childhood friend. I spent a ton of time there, and now that smell is so calming. No idea what it actually is, though.

[olegregg]

Yes...perfume, smells of school (even elementary). Also seasonal smells affect me. It's weird how nostalgia shows up.

[game blouses]

Raspberry body spray is my 9th grade locker room. And cigarette smoke is my dad, which is conflicting because I hate cigarette smoke.

[bania]

Heavily wooded forest remind me of my grandparents cabin at the lake. The dog park here has beautiful trails that smell the same way. I love it.

Calgon Hawaiian Ginger body spray will remind me of the girls change room in school