It’s a fundamental literary scene, that it’s so well-known that it has its very own label: the Proustian instant — a sensory encounter that stimulates a rush of memories, frequently long gone or even apparently forgotten. The soupçon of bread in tea set French novelist Marcel Proust’s head reeling in his 1913 novel, “la recherche du temps perdu.”

Science perspectives

But, based on a biologist and olfactory branding expert on Wednesday, it turned out to be the olfactory system that was actually at work.

This should come as no surprise, given what we know about neuroscience. Smell and memory appear so intimately related because of the brain’s anatomy, according to Harvard’s Venkatesh Murthy, Raymond Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor and chair of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Murthy guided the audience through the research early in the panel discussion “Olfaction in Science and Society,” which was presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History in cooperation with the Harvard Brain Science Initiative.

Odours Odessey

Smells are processed through the olfactory bulb, a structure in the outermost part of the brain that transmits information to other sections of the body’s central command for the purpose of further processing. Odours travel directly to the limbic system, comprising the regions of the amygdala and the hippocampus, which are associated with emotion and memory. “The olfactory signals are extremely quick to reach to the limbic system,” says Murthy.

But, as alongside Proust, the taste has a role, according to Murthy, whose lab studies the neurological and computational bases of odor-guided behaviors in terrestrial animals.

He said that food molecules “make their way return retro-nasally to the nasal epithelium” as you chew, which means that basically, “everything you consider flavour is the smell.” Each and every one of the exquisite, complex flavours you are consuming has a scent. According to Murthy, you may investigate that hypothesis by constricting your nose while consuming chocolate or vanilla ice cream, for example. “All you can detect is sweet,” he said, refusing to taste the flavour.

Recent Developments

People and companies have been investigating methods to use smell’s evocative effect for decades. Consider the perfume or cologne that a past romantic partner wore. Then there was the 1950s film industry’s invention of AromaRama or Smell-O-Vision, which tried to immerse audiences in a story by filling the theatre with appropriate scents.

The most recent update, the 4DX system, has been in place for ten years and adds special effects to movie theatres, including shaking seats, wind, rain, and scents. David Edwards, a Harvard scientist, developed a novel technique a few years ago that would enable iPhones to transmit smells in addition to images and text messages.

The smell of a house or workplace nowadays is quite important. According to the writers of a 2018 Harvard Business Review article, smell branding is popular across a variety of businesses, including hotels, which frequently infuse their distinctive scents into guest rooms and lobby areas.

“You must separate your brand mentally and memorably in an era where it’s getting harder and harder to distinguish out in a congested market,” they wrote. “Consider how scent can contribute to leaving a greater mark on your customers as you rethink your brand.”

Dawn Goldworm, co-owner and scent director of 12.29, a company she refers to as her “olfactive branding company,” is well-versed in this lesson. Her company uses the “visceral language of fragrance to transform brand-building” in the physical structures where clients reside, primarily through standalone units or ventilation systems.