Odor-based context-dependent memory: influence of olfactory cues on declarative and nondeclarative memory indices
Open Access
- 1 May 2022
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Learning & Memory
- Vol. 29 (5), 136-141
- https://doi.org/10.1101/lm.053562.121
Abstract
Reinstating the olfactory learning context can increase access to memory information, but it is not fully clear which memory functions are subject to an enhancing odor context reinstatement effect. Here, we tested whether congruent odor context during encoding and recall positively affected declarative and nondeclarative memory scores using a novel method for manipulation of an odorous environment; namely, intranasal Nosa plugs. Recall of a text and a complex figure as well as performance in a priming task were assessed immediately and 1 wk after encoding. We found that congruent odor exposure at encoding and recall aided free retrieval of a story at delayed testing but had no significant effect on a complex figure recall or a word completion task. Differences between the assessed memory indices suggest that olfactory environmental cues may be primarily efficient in free verbal recall tasks.Keywords
Funding Information
- Swedish Foundation for Humanities and Social Sciences (M14-0375:1, Our Unique Sense of Smell)
- Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (1605/MOB/V/2017/0)
This publication has 42 references indexed in Scilit:
- The functional neuroanatomy of odor evoked autobiographical memories cued by odors and wordsNeuropsychologia, 2013
- Odor as a contextual cue in memory reactivation in young infantsInfant Behavior and Development, 2012
- Proust revisited: Odours as triggers of aversive memoriesCognition and Emotion, 2012
- Odour‐based context reinstatement effects with indirect measures of memory: The curious case of rosemaryBritish Journal of Psychology, 2010
- Primed word‐fragment completion and successive memory test performance in normal agingScandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2003
- Odour and Proustian memory: reduction of context-dependent forgetting and multiple forms of memoryApplied Cognitive Psychology, 2000
- Odors and the remembrance of things past.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1990
- The development and validation of a test battery for detecting and monitoring everyday memory problemsJournal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 1989
- Effects of ambient odors of lavender and cloves on cognition, memory, affect and moodChemical Senses, 1989
- Construct validity of the San Diego neuropsychological test batteryArchives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 1987