It’s the end of a cold January, and I’m sitting in class, still catching my breath after rushing in late. I pull out my travel-sized rollerball perfume and swipe it on absentmindedly. Suddenly, I’m not in class anymore — I’m back in London, England, strolling around Marylebone with the warm sun on my skin.
The feeling is so vivid it almost startles me. It’s not just a memory; it’s as if I’ve been transported there entirely.
A few weeks ago, I found an old Bath & Body Works body spray I used when I was 15. The moment I smelled it, I was back in 2019, on a family trip to Disney World. I could feel the Florida humidity and sense my teenage awkwardness.
And just the other day, I stumbled upon a TikTok of a computer game I used to play when I was four or five years old. The second I heard the sound effects, I was back in our family den, sitting at the computer, completely immersed in a world of early 2000s pixelated graphics. I spent so much time there. One comment on the video reads, “The fact that this made me remember the smell of that time of my life.”
That hit me because sometimes nostalgia isn’t just about what we see or hear — it’s about what we smell. So how does this happen? How can a simple scent bring back such intense memories?
The Science Behind Memory and Scent
While nostalgia can be triggered by anything — music, old photos, even a taste — I’ve found that smell has a unique way of pulling me back to a specific moment in time. After doing some research, I learned that, according to Sandeep Robert Datta, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School, our sense of smell is directly linked to the brain’s memory and emotion centres.
The olfactory bulb processes scents and is closely connected to the hippocampus (where memories are stored) and the amygdala (which processes and generates emotions). This direct pathway explains why a smell can instantly bring back a flood of emotions and details, often more vividly than other senses, according to the Ontario Science Center’s video. When a memory resurfaces unconsciously, it is called an involuntary memory.
I want to stress how amazing I think the human brain is — its capability is truly so mind-boggling.
Scent, Nostalgia, and the Past we hold on to
I’ve always loved the idea of nostalgia. I get attached to my memories, constantly reflecting on the past and how it has shaped where I am today. Sometimes, it’s comforting — like revisiting a cherished moment. Other times, it’s overwhelming, stirring up emotions I didn’t realize were still there.
Scents are especially powerful in this way because they don’t just remind us of the past; they make us feel it. A particular smell can bring back not just the memory of an event but also the emotions that came with it — whether it’s the carefree joy of childhood summers or the bittersweet ache of a time now lost.
Scent-triggered nostalgia can be both beautiful and painful. It connects us to people, places, and moments we might never experience again in the same way. A perfume can remind us of someone we’ve lost. The smell of fresh rain on the pavement can take us back to childhood afternoons. A bakery’s scent might stir memories of home.
And maybe that’s why these moments feel so profound — because they remind us that even as life moves forward, pieces of our past still linger in the air, waiting to be rediscovered with a single breath.