Smell and Taste

directly to the brain, in particular to the limbic system. The limbic system is composed of structures involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory. From the evolutionary point of view, the limbic system is one of the oldest structures in the brain and has evolved as part of the olfactory (smell) sense.

It is commonly accepted that smells influence how we act and feel. The sense of smell can stimulate the memorization of concepts or experiences. Odors are well known for their high influence as contextual retrieval cues not only for autobiographic memories, but also for various other types of memory, including visuospatial memories. For example, a recent study has shown that the use of olfactory stimuli for cueing memories during sleep is useful for memory consolidation [266]. Strong correlations have been found between smell and attention, reaction times, mood, and emotional state [267]. The sense of smell was addressed by one of the first Virtual Reality systems, the Sensorama (see Section 1.3). Studies show that olfactory stimuli can enhance the sense of presence by recalling previous experiences and modifying the emotional state of the user.