Scent and Memory
Smell has a special connection to memory, and that connection often gets stronger, not weaker, as dementia progresses.
Researchers tested this by showing people with Alzheimer's disease pictures, playing them sounds, and letting them smell different scents, then asking what memories came up. Pictures brought back the most memories, smells came in a close second (Lopis et al., 2021).
Other researchers looked at something slightly different: not just whether a memory came back, but how strong and clear it felt. They found that a smell could bring back a memory faster than music could, even though music is already widely used in dementia care (El Haj et al., 2017). Other studies found that memories triggered by smell tended to feel more vivid and more positive than memories that came up with no prompt at all (Glachet & El Haj, 2019).
Here's the part that matters most for how we run sessions: this kind of memory seems to happen automatically. If you ask someone directly, "tell me about your childhood," they have to search for that memory themselves, which gets harder as dementia progresses. But if they smell something familiar, like a certain flower or fresh herbs, the memory can just show up on its own, without them having to search for it at all.
That's the whole idea behind using scent in our sessions. It's not just a nice touch, it's often the easiest way in to a memory that a resident can no longer reach by being asked directly.
Studies referenced
Lopis, D., Le Pape, T., Manetta, C., & Conty, L. (2021). Sensory Cueing of Autobiographical Memories in Normal Aging and Alzheimer's Disease. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 80(3), 1169–1183.
El Haj, M., Gandolphe, M. C., Gallouj, K., Kapogiannis, D., & Antoine, P. (2017). From Nose to Memory: The Involuntary Nature of Odor-evoked Autobiographical Memories in Alzheimer's Disease. Chemical Senses, 43(1), 27–34.
Glachet, O., & El Haj, M. (2019). Emotional and Phenomenological Properties of Odor-Evoked Autobiographical Memories in Alzheimer's Disease.
