Having a co-worker whose perfume and aroma remind us of an uncle who took care of us in childhood: an experience like this can happen to anyone. The information that our senses collect not only has an immediate use for contact and recognition of the environment that surrounds us, but also serves as memory triggers, as evokers of memories that we were not trying to bring to the surface.
Why does this happen? The fact that images, sounds and smells evoke powerful memories in us, generally loaded with very intense emotions, perhaps comes from the fact that the same part of the brain that is in charge of processing sensory information is also partially responsible for store memories and memories.
The “sensory” regions of the brain had not previously been considered to play an important role in hosting emotional memories, but this possibility is currently being widely explored (the study is being carried out in the Italy).
Although studies are still inconclusive, they suggest that this sensory brain is also involved in some fear and anxiety disorders. This part of the brain is the sensory cortex and is responsible for receiving and interpreting signals from all the sense organs. It is divided into two parts: primary and secondary cortex. The secondary plays a more detailed role, analyzing the stimuli in greater detail. Various experiments lead the Turin team to assume that a sensory impact can be stored together with an emotional meaning; in fact, the secondary cortex only stores memories if the stimulus is linked to an emotion. Sensory memories are stored in another part of the brain.
It is curious to reflect on how memories with a strong emotional charge can be so related to the sense organs, but it is evident that it does not seem absurd or alien to us. It is absolutely normal for a song, a photograph or a scent to transport us to another moment in our life, and usually this moment will be one that marked us deeply, perhaps because it was very pleasant or pleasant, or just the opposite.
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The more memories we have, that is, as our age increases, the easier it is for us to have this series of memory “outbursts” with some sensory stimulus. For the especially those who are at risk of suffering from some type of senile dementia, repeating some stimuli strongly linked to intensely emotional memories can be a mechanism to keep these memories alive.
And not only that, keeping the senses well stimulated, whether by participating in artistic or culinary workshops, listening to music or singing, walking, exploring, touching things (as is done when embroidering or knitting), helps to continue building memories and keeping the mind active. memory.
From that smell of apple pie with cinnamon that our grandmother made in our childhood and that sends us to intense emotions of tenderness, to the construction of new emotional memories that allow us to keep our memory active and lucid, the senses are a way of assimilate our environment, which marks our memories and allows us to create a kind of intimate diary related to what we see, feel, smell, hear and taste.
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