An in-depth review of the methods, findings, and theories associated with odor-evoked autobiographical memory

What is it about?

The Proust phenomenon is the effect that a currently perceived odor elicits the spontaneous recollection of a past experience. We found in this review that, although the effect is well-known, there are relatively few studies examining the phenomenon. Furthermore, there is hardly any standardisation among these studies, making it difficult to compare their findings. Studies tend to use either the single-cue or double-cue method. Whereas the single-cue method allows for examining selection differences, the double-cue method tries to account for confounds between the experiencing the cue and the experiencing the memory. Research has shown that events elicited by odor cues (in comparison to events elicited by other kinds of cues) tend to be experiences that had happened a long time ago (i.e., mostly childhood) and that have not been thought about for a long time. These odor-evoked memories tend to be more emotionally intense and more positive but only when they are assessed at retrieval. When they are (retrospectively) assessed at encoding, there is no difference between memories elicited by odors or memories elicited by other cues. Furthermore, odor-evoked memories are rated as vivid and accompanied with strong feelings of being brought back in time. Explanations for the phenomenon are linked to encoding, consolidation and retrieval processes, but hardly any of these accounts has been tested directly. We encourage researchers to shift their work from describing the phenomenon to explaining the phenomenon.

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