If you use more of your senses to learn something, more of your brain is involved in retaining the memory. In a recent study, adults were shown a series of images, each presented along with a smell. They were not asked to remember what they saw. Later, the researchers showed them a set of images — this time without odors — and asked to indicate which ones they saw previously. The authors of this study found that people recalled the odor-paired pictures well, especially those associated with pleasant smells, according to Harvard Medical School. Brain imaging indicated that the main, smell-processing region of the brain lit up when patients saw the images originally paired with odors.
