Five-O said, Freeze! and I got numb
Show one image exclusively to one eye and a different image exclusively to the other eye and rather than experiencing a merging of the images, an observer’s percept will flit backwards and forwards randomly and endlessly between the two. This “binocular rivalry”, as it’s known, has been of particular interest to psychologists because it shows how the same incoming sensory information can give rise to two very different conscious experiences.
Now, in a research first, psychologists have shown that a similar process occurs with our sense of smell. If one odour is presented to one nostril and another odour is presented to the other nostril, a person will experience “binaral rivalry” - sensing one smell and then the other, backwards and forwards, rather than a blending of the two.
From Proust’s Madeleines to the overbearing food critic in the movie Ratatouille who’s transported back to his childhood at the aroma of stew, artists have long been aware that some odors can spontaneously evoke strong memories. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science have now revealed the scientific basis of this connection. (…)
The key might not necessarily lie in childhood, but rather in the first time a smell is encountered in the context of a particular object or event. In other words, the initial association of a smell with an experience will somehow leave a unique and lasting impression in the brain.
