Smell & Déjà vu

[Cherrybomb]

Hi all

Ok this is a bit of a funny one, but does anyone else experience really strong déjà vu when they smell certain things?

I get déjà vu from time to time, like most people. But sometimes I'll walk past a shop or whatever and smell something and I get such a strong déjà vu moment it makes me feel dizzy. Anyone else??

 

[drbastard]

It is true that the olfactory tracts have a direct connection with the hippocampus and certain smells evoke particularly strong memories. I used to get déjà vu a LOT when I was young and a couple of times it made me dizzy as you describe and one time I felt like I was actually going to pass out. I have come to believe that these experiences are triggered very minor transient temporal lobe seizures. I reckon we all get little seizures now and again that don’t fully develop and half the time we don’t even notice.

Possibly related- I went to an interesting talk about epilepsy very recently and the presenter was talking about an epileptic patient who often suffers a seizure when he thinks strongly about his childhood home. This is really interesting and bizarre stuff..it is already known that seizures can affect memory, but conversely the idea that recalling a certain memory can provoke one is a new one on me.

 

[smokehead]

I associate certain memories with certain smells, and the weather will often remind me of a day like it, music of course, places, lots of reminders of the past every day.
Never had a deja ju experience from it. I tend to associate emotional states with certain enviroments, and thinking about certain places will evoke emotions.
As far as I understand it,and I don't,memory doesn't work we way we think, we only retain certain core details and the mind fills in the rest.

 

[Ulalume]

Deja vu with smells? Oh my, yes. Now, I also get ordinary, if strong, memories when I smell a scent from the past, like most people do (walking past an elementary school lunchroom? Arrgh. How do all schools smell the same?!) but I have a tendency toward deja vu, or even what I call double or triple deja vu, as if the thing I'm "remembering" (which I can't be sure is a real memory - you know how it is with deja vu) has happened repeatedly. Very dizzying.

I have a friend with epilepsy who describes one type of seizure aura as "deja vu times 100" and certain kinds of smells, sounds or lights. I've been tested for epilepsy but the results were inconclusive due to error (I don't have any obvious seizures though). One doctor felt sure I had an abnormal neural connection between the temporal lobe and limbic system (since I have pretty intense synesthesia, among other things)

Anyway, I don't know if that helps with your question, Cherrybomb, but perhaps there's something there to trigger some ideas

 

[Maviself]

Just to back up previous replies: odour information is stored in the long term memory and has strong connections to emotional memory, so yes, it is well known that odours can trigger very strong memories. This can be measured by the use of brain scanning techniques.