said the researchers, is that the activation of the odor-processing centers might have been due to subjects' direct recall of odor "imagery," rather than participation of the olfactory center in the memory-associating process. However, when the scientists asked the subjects about the experience of recognizing the images, they said they had recalled the story associated with the image-odor pairs and had not tried to conjure the memory of the odor itself. Also, the subjects did not show breathing changes that would be associated with recalling odors.

Thus, concluded the researchers, these findings confirm models of memory recall in which the sensory-specific components of a memory are preserved in the sensory-related brain regions, and the hippocampus draws on those components to reconstruct the rich, ethereal experience that is a memory of things past.

'"/>

Contact: Heidi Hardman
hhardman@cell.com
617-397-2879
Cell Press
26-May-2004

Page: 1 2
Related medicine news :

1. Cellular porthole connects odors to brain
2. Dartmouth researchers find where musical memories are stored in the brain
3. Thanks for the memories: cinematic portrayal of amnesia is profoundly misleading
4. Northwestern researchers pinpoint how false memories are formed
5. How brain gives special resonance to emotional memories
6. Scientists uncover how brain retrieves and stores older memories
7. Norepinephrine important in retrieving memories
8. Evidence that memories are consolidated during sleep
9. False memories, failing recall are not an inevitable consequence of aging, research suggests