Odor memory: Review and analysis
Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Rachel S. Herz, Trygg Engen
This review examines how odors are encoded, stored, and recalled in memory. It highlights the strong link between olfaction and emotion, showing that odor memories are especially vivid, long-lasting, and tied to personal experiences compared to other sensory memories.
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
DOI: 10.3758/BF03210754
Posted byRiley Fitzpatrick
Pending staff verification
Notify
Abstract/Description
We critically review the cognitive literature on olfactory memory and identify the similarities and differences between odor memory and visual-verbal memory. We then analyze this literature using criteria from a multiple memory systems approach to determine whether olfactory memory can be considered to be a separate memory system. We conclude that olfactory memory has a variety of important distinguishing characteristics, but that more data are needed to confer this distinction. We suggest methods for the study of olfactory memory that should make a resolution on the separate memory system hypothesis possible while simultaneously advancing a synthetic understanding of olfaction and cognition.
