6.3 Proustian memory

Have you ever been reminded of an event from the past after smelling a certain scent? This phenomenon is called “Proustian memory.”  It’s named after Marcel Proust, whose novel In Search of Lost Time describes a character who recalls childhood memories when he smells the scent of madeleine in tea. 

The power of Proustian memory has been proven by a scientific experiment. A researcher, Dr. Hertz, showed subjects some pictures with different scents. Later, he only allowed them to smell the scents. After smelling them, the subjects were better able to remember the pictures than when they were given nothing to smell.

Dr. Hertz conducted his experiment using hearing and touch, in addition to smell. These senses, however, did not produce the same results. This suggests that sense of smell must be linked to the part of the brain that controls memories.