Scents and tastes are powerfully evocative — one whiff of perfume or a cooking aroma can transport you back to a particular moment, place, or a person. Because the things we smell reach two brain structures — the hippocampus and amygdala — in just one synapse, scents can almost immediately stimulate the key brain areas for memory, emotion, and location.
In this episode of Totally Cerebral, Wendy Suzuki speaks with neuroscientist Howard Eichenbaum, an expert on olfactory memory. With chemist Kent Kirshenbaum, they sit down to a meal with Chef Anita Lo to hear how she plays with our senses and our memories in her delicious creations.
Transistor is a transformative STEM podcast from PRX. Three scientist hosts — microbiologist Christina Agapakis, astrophysicist Michelle Thaller, and neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki — report on curiosities and current events in and beyond their fields. Sprinkled among their episodes are special science stories from around the globe. Presented with support from the Sloan Foundation.
This episode was hosted by Wendy Suzuki and produced by Julie Burstein, with editing and sound design by Derek John. Wendy Suzuki’s book Healthy Brain, Happy Life, went on sale May 19, 2015.
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