Memory for Odors

The power of odors to unlock human memory is celebrated in literature and anecdote, but poorly documented by science. Odors -- perhaps more than other stimuli -- are widely believed to evoke vivid and complex past experiences easily. Yet in contrast to the frequency with which odors are thought to evoke memories of the past, scientific evidence is thus far scant.

For years, voluminous data have been collected on odor sensitivity, whereas relatively few studies exist on memory for odors per...