Mystery of the Senses—Smell
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Student Handout |
Olfactory Memories
Humans' sense of smell has a strong connection to the limbic region, one of the parts of the brain that stores memories and emotions. This connection causes smells to trigger your memories and emotions before you can describe the smells.
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Memory: What does it make you think of? |
Emotions: How does it make you feel? |
What do you think it is? |
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| Substance 2 |
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| Substance 3 |
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| Substance 4 |
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| Substance 5 |
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| Substance 6 |
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| Substance 7 |
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| Substance 8 |
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| Substance 9 |
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| Substance 10 |
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Procedure
With your eyes closed, smell the contents of each jar your teacher passes to you. After you smell each jar, write on the chart below the first memory that comes to your mind, the emotions you associate with that memory, and the substance you think is in the jar. After your teacher reveals the contents of each jar, compare your answers in the "substances" column with the actual answers. Which substances were the most difficult to identify? Why? Smell triggers a wide variety of sense-related memories, such as images, sounds, tastes, and touches. What sense-related memories did you recall with each smell? With which sense do you associate most of your memories?
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