@newscientist: Do you have a smell that instantly takes you back to your childhood?   That sudden rush is due to the so-called Proust Effect - the phenomenon in which a scent automatically triggers a highly emotional, autobiographical memory from our past. One reason that it's so powerful is that smell, unlike many other senses, travels along a "superhighway" to brain regions involved in memory and emotion. Scientists think that certain scents are often tied to childhood memories because the first time we encounter them, they are flagged as important by the brain, helping cement them in long-term storage.   In this episode of Change Your Mind, Helen Thomson shares her most powerful smell memory, and with the help of olfactory expert Michael Leon, discovers why training your sense of smell might help preserve your memory later in life.   To listen to the full episode, follow the link in our bio.

New Scientist

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Sunday 12 July 2026 17:00:13 GMT