The Influence of Odor Valence on Long-Term Memory Encoding

Abstract

Odors can evoke emotional responses and recall memories. It is known that odors with emotional valence, positive or negative, can modulate memory. However, there is a lack of further research that compares the influence of positive, neutral, and negative odors on long-term memory (LTM). In this study, we used sniff sticks with positive, neutral, and negative odors to manipulate odor valence, and memory tasks and distraction tasks to evaluate memory performance. We found that positive odors can enhance memory performance, while negative odors can suppress it, compared to neutral odors. This study has provided additional insight into the mechanism of memory and identified potential factors that influence memory performance.