Olfaction, Memory and Emotion An Anatomical, Physiological, and Psychological Review of the Effects of Odors on the Human Brain

Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Beulig, Alfred

Keywords

Olfaction, Memory, Emotion

Area of Concentration

Neurobiology

Abstract

As microsmic mammals, humans do not rely as heavily on the sense of smell as they do on other sensory modalities. However, olfactory information can provide humans with vital information about the environment or food items. Olfaction is an evolutionarily old modality and the substrates that underlie olfactory processing may retain some of these more 'Primitive' elements. The anatomy of the olfactory system in humans is reviewed in light of the massive expansion of the frontal and temporal lobes in human brains. As an older cortical area, the primary olfactory cortex is less architectonically complicated than the neocortex of the cerebral hemispheres. This fact, along with its extensive ties to the hippocampal formation and subcortical 'limbic' structures allow the primary olfactory cortex to be easily studied and widely used as a model for circuitries elsewhere in the cortex. Hypothetical models of olfactory memory formation and function within these morphologies are discussed. Autobiographical olfactory memories are attributed with high levels of vividness and emotionality. This specific type of odor memory, along with more mundane aspects of olfactory memory are reviewed and discussed in light of current emotion and memory theories. Implicit and explicit aspects of olfactory memories are dealt with regarding functional neuroanatomy in humans and animal models. Laterality of olfactory processing is also discussed.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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