Welcome back to the Uncle Mind podcast, where we explore the science and stories behind how we think, feel, and live. I'm Hyper Harris, a cognitive behavioral therapist who believes that understanding your brain is the first step to changing your life. Today we're talking about two senses that have far more influence on your mind than you may realize: taste and smell. These aren't just tools for enjoying food, they're powerful gateways into memory, emotion, and even identity. From childhood meals to unexpected scents that pull you back in time, taste and smell can shape our mood, connect us to our past, and sometimes surprise us with memories we didn't know we still carry. In this episode, we look at the science behind these senses and explore the 10 most powerful ways taste and smell affect the brain, including why some memories make us smile and others stop us in our tracks. So let's dive in. Hello, hello. Hope everyone is doing well today. So today I really want to talk about taste and smell. It's been really uh top of mind for me recently. Um it's actually been just this recent weekend. It was funny, the other night, I I pulled down one of my favorite books and I just was feeling kind of like this this mood, and I wasn't quite sure what it was. And I turned to one of my very, very sh favorite short stories by MFK Fisher, and that's really what brought this to mind uh to talk about taste and smell and the brain. And then it was really interesting. Last night we were teasing as a family, talking about my eldest son going to college in just six days. It's hard to believe. And uh we're talking about different foods, and then I hoped that you know I taught him enough to head off to college and and subsist on more than just top ramen. So, really um thinking about today's episode and just what's been happening the last couple days, like I said, I turned to one of my favorite, favorite short stories by MFK Fisher. If you don't know who she is, um she's just a beautiful writer. I fell in love with her about 15 years ago when I was chefing. Yes, yes, I was also a chef in a previous life. Um, and just her writing, I feel like I'm eating the food with her. I feel like I can see the scene. I just love how she writes. Um so I turned to my favorite story. It's called Borderland. And it's actually quite a short story. Um, and it's found, I think, in Serve at Fourth. I have a compilation of all of her books called The Art of Eating. Um, but this story, I go back to it so often because she's describing a scene where she and I believe it's her brother have rented a room during like World War II and it's on the Rhine, near the Rhine, and she talks about outside she sees soldiers marching past. But inside, she places a um a tangerine on top of the heater and she talks about how the skin warms and the smell and the fragrance of it. And then what she does is she then sets it out on the windowsill in the snow, so it almost crystallizes the tangerine, and she talks about the snap of the skin, and it's just a beautiful, beautiful story. And um I I talked to my husband about it the other night. I'm like, why what is this about the story? Why am I turning to this? And he said, Well, you know, she's obviously escaping the impending dread of World War II, and she's using that tangerine as a way to escape something painful. And so then I I started thinking to myself, well, what was my driver to go to this story? And I do really think that it is my way of confronting that my my little boy is leaving. Um, and it was just her writing is soothing to me and it captured what I was trying to do. It really did. But what was really interesting too about MFK Fisher's writing here is that it really is um how we can sometimes look at our trauma, how we can escape our trauma or our anxieties. And so it's just again, if you've never read MFK Fisher, I cannot um suggest her more. The story is called Borderland in her book Servant Forth, and it's a beautiful, beautiful um short story that I just it evokes so much emotion in me. Um, I'll read a short um little sentence paragraph here that she ends it with. She said, The sections of Aunt Tangerine are gone. I can't tell you why they are so magical. Perhaps it is that little shell, thin as one layer of enamel on a Chinese bowl, that crackles so tinnally, so ultimately under your teeth, or the rush of the cold pulp just after it, or the perfume, I cannot tell. There must be someone, though, who knows what I mean. Probably everyone knows, because of his own secret eatings. I mean, I just, and again, you have to read her. I I love how she wrote that. So that's how today's episode came to be. That, you know, this short story is a perfect example of what neuroscience now confirms. And that is that taste and smell are two of the most powerful forces our brain knows, and they can really transport us instantly across decades, oceans, and entire timelines. I mean, it can thrust me into a timeline that I wasn't even alive for. So these tastes and smells, they can comfort us or they can startle us. And so today we're really going to explore the 10 most powerful ways that taste and smell affect the brain. So to understand why food can have such an impact on memory and emotion, we have to look at how our senses are wired. So, for example, when you smell something, let's say fresh basil, I have some beautiful basil right now. One of my favorite things to make is caprese in in the summertime. But if you think about this fresh basil, the odor molecules, when you smell it, travel into your nose and they hit a patch of tissue and they call this olefactory epithelium. Okay. So from there, they send signals straight into the olefactory bulb. And this is where things get really interesting. That bulb is directly connected to key parts of our brain. Number one, the amygdala. This processes the motions. Oftentimes we call this our fight or flight system or the alarm system, the fire alarm of our brain. And the second area is the hippocampus, and this is where we store and retrieve memories. Now, what's interesting is this is different from our other senses. So, like sight, sound, and touch, these all actually pass through our brain's relay station. That's called the thalamus. So before it heads to the destination. So the thalamus just says, okay, sight go to this area, you know, sound go to this area. But smell bypasses that relay station entirely. Entirely. So it goes straight into memory centers and emotional centers. So that's why a smell can hit you like an absolute wave before you even know what's really going on, before you can really digest, like where is this coming from? Why am I having this? And taste actually works in tandem with smell. So your tongue can detect sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. And um, umami, that's a whole nother conversation there. But most of what we call all of this is flavor, is actually smell. Isn't that interesting? So the combination creates this really rich sensory experience that can lock a moment into memory for absolute decades or a lifetime. So, for example, I betcha if I say to you, summer storm and pavement, immediately you probably call to mind what the pavement smells like when a flash summer storm hits that hot pavement. Like I can think of it right now and I can smell it. It's one of my favorite smells. Or I bet if I say to you, a box of crayons, right? Did it come to memory like immediately? Oh my gosh, I remember what a box of crayons smells like. I'm one of the weird people. I think crayons smell delicious. It's so weird. Um, okay, so how about a memory of um how about a gross one? How about vomit? Did that bring disgust to you? Because all of us remember what it smells like, right? So it's really interesting. This phenomenon actually has a name, and it's called the Proust phenomenon, and it was named after this author, this guy, Marcel Proust. And it's really interesting because he famously described being overwhelmed by childhood memories after tasting a Madeline cookie and dipping it in his tea. So much like MFK Fisher was talking about these tangerine sections, Proust also explained it as well, and now it's called the Proust phenomenon. So again, when we think about smell and taste, what's fascinating is it it just goes directly to our emotion center and our hippocampus. Okay, it it completely bypasses the thalamus. So you have to ask yourself, like, why? Why does it do this? Well, if you think about it, when we smell smoke, our brain immediately goes straight to that amygdala, says danger, and gets us out of the way, right? So it really is this kind of safety mechanism. So we smell something, we don't have to wait for the brain to relay, oh, we see fire, now we must go. It's immediate. It's like I smell smoke. Oh my gosh, I'm in danger. I have to get out. So if you think about that, that's what why it's directly connected. And as I'm talking about those kind of examples, think about cancel and Gretel. Remember that that story? And they're going through the the woods and and they get caught up, right, with the smell. And I think it was baked bread or something, but and and they thought it was safe, right? But then they got into the witch's home. But it does, it it it drives us toward or away some from something much quicker than if we waited for the thalmus to tell our body what to do. So I really want to dive into the 10 most powerful things that taste and smell can do to the brain. Um, it is very powerful. And I know when I brought up those different um ideas or those um examples to mind that you immediately were able to bring those to mind. So this is why it's so powerful, and I think it's just so fascinating. I love the brain. I'm trying to study it as much as I can, and I love bringing that into the experience of the therapy room. So this is really um an interesting thing for us to look at. So, number one, um, what happens with taste and smell is it can trigger vivid autobiographical memories. So some of the strongest, most emotionally charged memories are often involved with smell, always. So you might smell the sunscreen, right? And immediately, instantly think of childhood summers, or um maybe a certain soup like chicken noodle soup, and you remember your grandma's kitchen, right? So taste and smell can trigger very vivid autobiographical memories. Number two, taste and smell can regulate our mood. And we know this, this is why aromatherapy is so huge. So certain smells like lavender, vanilla, or fresh baked bread can activate the parasympathetic nervous system. So just as a reminder, we've got our autonomic um autonomic system. There's two branches, the sympathetic, which is our fight or flight amygdala, and the parasympathetic, which is our our soothing. We can call that like a rest and digest system. It's really not that binary, but that's what we can call it. So certain smells can actually calm and regulate our mood 100%. So if you were to come into my office, I have a bowl of lifesavers, minty lifesavers. I tell my clients all the time, I'm like, I don't think you have bad breath. But I use these to regulate and to ground in session if somebody becomes really dysregulated. That's why I have them in my office. Um, so number three, taste and smell can shape our emotional associations. And we've talked a lot about that already. So when we um experience something significant, the smells and tastes present at that time become kind of tagged with emotion. So it can me that uh mean that like a joyful holiday meal, um, you you love it even more and you love that flavor even more for life. But for example, a bad breakup over a certain dish might make you avoid it forever. Um, I'll never forget uh my godfather. Um, he called one weekend and um I was chatting with him. His name was Hap, and I just I have such wonderful memories with him as a little girl. But he called one weekend, talked to dad. Dad was his best friend, and um he got on the phone with me, and we were preparing to drive over to Montana and from Montana and go um have Thanksgiving with him. Well, see family, but I knew I was gonna see Hap. And Hap said to me on the phone call, I will save you a piece of pumpkin pie, we'll eat it together. Well, unfortunately, that never happened. It's one of the last conversations I had with him and he passed away. He had a massive heart attack. And for years, I'm talking like 15, 20 years. I could not beat pumpkin pie. Couldn't. Because I had such an emotional association with pumpkin pie and losing my godfather. I mean, it took years and years and years for me to break that association of losing my godfather and pumpkin pie. So it really can shape those emotional associations very, very strongly. Um, number four, um, obviously taste and smell influence our food preferences. Obviously. And so we have that, you know, earlier exposure plays a huge role in this. So when I was raising my sons, I actually made all of the baby food and I introduced a lot of different flavors and spices, obviously, when they could manage them with their little tummies, because I didn't want them to have a blunted palate. I wanted my boys to be able to really experience the joy that I have experienced through taste. And so those early exposure moments are huge. So for some parents, you might not have really exposed your kids to a more diverse palate, and you might have some really, really picky eaters at this point. Like they're only eating, you know, chicken nuggets and goldfish. Um, and so that can be a real issue, right? If we don't do those early exposures to um get their little palate and their mind used to these different flavors, they're gonna be pretty picky. So if you were growing up eating certain spices or flavors, your brain wires those tastes as familiar and safe. Okay. So this is why our childhood food culture often stays with us. And that's a big talk right now, right? About the safety of our foods, about all the different dyes, all of that. So, really that early exposure is a huge role, huge role with how our brain takes in new food and smell experiences. Okay. So, number five, taste and smell can alter pain perception. It can. So, comfort foods and pleasant scents, right, they can lower our perceived pain by releasing a little bit more dopamine and some endorphins. So these are your brain's natural painkillers. And it's funny, even hospitals have experimented with scent therapy to help with recovery. And if you know anything about Disney, about Disneyland or Disney World, they have scents all over the place because they're trying to evoke a pleasure in it, right? So there's no pain going on. Well, except I hate crowds, so there is pain. I meant Disney. Oh, I don't like it. But they're using smell to alter perception, right? So we can do that as well. It's um, if you've ever sold a home and you've had a realtor realtor say, hey, bake some cookies before people come into the house. You're altering perception. So we can also do that to alter pain perception, and it helps that brain say, Oh, we're feeling a little bit better. It's fascinating, absolutely fascinating. Our brain is incredible. So, number six, and this is probably gonna be like a duh, um, it drives cravings and hunger. I know. So again, like the smell of baking cookies can actually make you crave sweets even though you just ate. So that's because smell and taste, they stimulate um the hypothalamus, also, which helps create or helps regulate hunger signals. So it's just kind of this whole um tumult of experiences or or pathways that are happening in the brain and it can drive cravings. There was a really fascinating study, I read it years and years ago, about um uh obese individuals that had impulse control issues. And what they did was they had two different um environments, and they were the same kind of uh fake home base, like it was a kitchen, okay? Um one kitchen was very clean and very tidy and had fresh baked cookies on the counter. On the other, they had a very um chaotic kitchen, the same kitchen they made it nasty. They put food everywhere, the garbage everywhere, stuff all over the counters, and the same fresh baked cookies. What's really interesting about this study when they had individuals step into either of these environments is that the cravings and hunger were higher in the chaotic environment than they were over in the organized environment. So it's really interesting, even though the taste and smell was there, they would have one or two cookies in the organized environment, but in the other kitchen, they like binged. They binged eating there. So we see this a lot with people with impulse control issues, especially when it comes to food and taste. You can watch people uh binge on food and you can see them like desperately trying to evoke the same emotion centers, but oftentimes they're in a very chaotic environment or their mind is chaotic. So it's just it's really fascinating when you read the research on this. Number seven, um, it impacts social bonding, excuse me. And we know this sharing meals and cooking together creates a really strong social connection. Um, even anthropologists, they believe that this communal eating is really it played a really key role in human evolution, just meaning that it strengthened group cohesion and it was a protective factory uh factor, excuse me. And um, you know, even for me, um, as I'm recording this, I wrote a newsletter and I pulled out some cute little pictures of my boys. Um, and I cooked with them from as young as I can remember. I taught them how to hold a knife, how to respect a knife, because I don't want my boys grabbing something and and cutting themselves. I had a lot of sharp knives, especially when I was chefing. I was very busy doing all of that. And um, I was a private chef. So I was preparing a lot of different meals at home. I wrote a cookbook, all the things, and so I needed to know that they were safe in the kitchen. So I have so many incredible memories of that impact, that social bonding that we did together. And the same thing is with any of my family and friends. Uh, we have a good family friend, and every time he visited from my husband's childhood, I would make a giant pan of lasagna. Um, and he would eat it for dinner, and then we'd literally wake up in the morning, he ate another half of the pan in the middle of the night because he loved my lasagna. Um, and then we have another friend, he loves my smashed potatoes, and he can't get enough of them. I literally have to make three pounds of them when he comes and visits. So there's that impact of social bonding. Um, I have a best girlfriend from middle school, and we had Rachel's potatoes. Like we still to this day call them Rachel's potatoes. So there's just this impact, right? And um, we name things for certain people, we have certain memories over over foods. It's just really fun. So, number eight, um, and this is where it kind of gets tough with smell and taste, is that it can actually elicit a trauma response. So, not all scent and taste-based memories are actually good, and I know that. So, for example, a whiff of like diesel fuel might actually trigger a combat veterans flashback, right? Or the smell of alcohol could really trigger a really hard memory from a childhood that might be a you know full of violence or or abuse. So, we do know that taste and smell, it's not always good. We know it's not always good and that it can elicit that trauma response, which makes it very difficult, right? Because we're tasting and smelling all the time. So that it that can be one of the really difficult things with taste and smell. Number nine, it actually boosts our learning and recall. So if you pair a particular scent, like with a study session, it might help you. Most of the times it helps you recall the information more easily when you smell it again. So this is actually called context-dependent memory. So for example, when my clients come into the office, they know what it's going to smell like. It might not be the exact scent because I can't ever find enough candles for the exact exact scent, but they know Piper, I usually buy the giant four-wick candles, so it lasts me about three months. I can, well, two months. So I know I can get two months of sessions with clients so that they are associating the calmness, the soothing in my office with that smell. So even though we might bring up anxious or traumatic discussions, that candle is going to kind of anchor them in the safety that I created before that. So next time that you want to develop a memory, try smell. Try smell. And again, I do this for every one of my sessions. It's very, very important. And number 10, um, what food does is it and food and scent actually it's tied deeply to heritage. We know this, right? We know that spices, ingredients, and cooking methods that we grow up become a part of our identity. And that's that's really how many people stay connected to their roots. And we've already discussed that. So it's important to remember that the brain doesn't just label smell or taste as good or bad, right? It just links it to whatever emotion was present at the time. So, like I said before, that means these sensory triggers can be incredibly healing, but they can also be very unsettling. And that's really something that's important to consider. So people with PTSD um or just strong traumatic memory, for example, um, you know, like I said, the the diesel fuel, it can really link back to a very traumatic event. Um, and they're they're fully back into it in an instance. So it's full of the emotion, the bodily sensations, and those images. And so our job in the therapy room, when we have that association, that memory linked to taste or smell, is to desensitize that negative emotion and scent, because I don't want you walking around unable to do that. So, for example, um, I am actually working with a client right now and doing this. And so, for example, um what I'll do in the therapy room, what I'm doing right now, I have a client that's coming in and we are actually having the client smell and drink coffee before session because the coffee is linked to a traumatic memory. And so I'm trying to actually invoke the same anxiety and panic and desensitize to that in a safe environment. And that's really what exposure therapy is. So if you're listening, you're like, Piper, there's certain smells and stuff that like I cannot do and I avoid them. What I would say to you is that stop avoiding them. It actually increases the brain's belief that the smell or taste is like the worst thing on planet Earth. Now, listen, like my kid um a couple summers ago, we love raw oysters, and he got a really bad raw oyster and threw up for hours. And we just went back to the beach a couple weekends ago and he's like, I want to try oysters, and he couldn't do it. He's like, Oh my gosh, mom, and he spit it out. And I said, Okay, you tried one, but you need to keep exposing yourself to oysters because you'll forever be associating getting sick on one oyster for the rest of your life. So exposure really is the way when it comes to taste and smell. And you're like, I don't want to do that. Well, it's highly effective. The more you avoid something, the worse the um effects get. So again, you know, that's I think the brain is so fascinating with taste and smell. I think it's just I I think it's incredible the way that it affects us. We we know this, right? So we know that food and smell, it's or food, you know, it's more than fuel. And taste and smell are more than just senses. It's this shortcut that our brain takes to stories that we've lived. Sometimes it's comforting and sometimes it's difficult, but it's always powerful. I just I love the thought of it. So when MFK Fisher warmed that tangerine on the heater, she wasn't just creating a snack, she was anchoring herself in a moment of safety and beauty in the middle of chaos. And that's the thing about taste and smell. It is not passive. There are these active forces, right, in how we remember, how we feel, and how we connect to who we've been. So the next time a scent or flavor sweeps you away, pay attention. Your brain is telling you a story, and if it's one worth listening to, and if it's something that's very painful, try to step into it because again, the more we expose to the inaccurate um formation of a memory around a smell, the more we can go back to enjoying it. So I hope you've enjoyed this today. I I just love learning the brain and these 10 powerful ways that taste and smell can affect our brain and the Proust phenomenon. I think it's incredible. If you want to learn more about this, head on over to my blog. I wrote a blog about taste and smell, and you can learn a little bit more if um about me and my personal sense of style if you want the uh newsletter that I wrote with this as well. So thanks so much for joining me. Thanks so much for joining me for today's episode of the Untangled Mind podcast. I hope this conversation on taste and smell and memory has given you a deeper appreciation for the way your brain scores and retrieves life's most powerful moments. If you found this episode meaningful, I'd love for you to share with your family or friends or anyone who might appreciate the science and stories about how we experience the world. You can find more insights, resources, workbooks, and future episodes on untangledmind.net. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. So until next time, let's keep on untangling our minds and untangling our lives.