The Smell Report - Emotion. The perception of smell consists not only of the sensation of the odours themselves but of the experiences and emotions associated with these sensations.
Smells can evoke strong emotional reactions.
In surveys on reactions to odours, responses show that many of our olfactory likes and dislikes are based purely on emotional associations. The association of fragrance and emotion is not an invention of poets or perfume-makers. Our olfactory receptors are directly connected to the limbic system, the most ancient and primitive part of the brain, which is thought to be the seat of emotion. Smell sensations are relayed to the cortex, where cognitive recognition occurs, only after the deepest parts of our brains have been stimulated. Thus, by the time we correctly name a particular scent as, for example, vanilla , the scent has already activated the limbic system, triggering more deep-seated emotional responses.