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Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants
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A cognitive nose? Evaluating working memory benchmarks in the olfactory domain.

Theresa L White1, Nira Cedres2,3, Jonas K Olofsson3

  • 1Department of Psychology, Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, United States.

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Working memory (WM) research typically ignores smell. This review found olfactory WM mostly matches other senses, but with key differences, highlighting the need for broader sensory research.

Keywords:
olfactionperceptionsense of smellshort-term memorysmell

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Sensory Science

Background:

  • Working memory (WM) research predominantly focuses on visual and auditory stimuli.
  • Olfactory WM, the memory for smells, remains under-explored.
  • Understanding olfactory WM is crucial for a comprehensive theory of memory.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review and integrate research on olfactory working memory (WM).
  • To assess the generalizability of established WM benchmarks to the sense of smell.
  • To identify gaps in knowledge and suggest future research directions for olfactory WM.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic literature review of studies on olfactory WM over the past 50 years (N=44).
  • Evaluation of 21 proposed WM benchmarks for their applicability to olfactory WM.
  • Analysis of existing research to identify patterns and exceptions in olfactory WM.

Main Results:

  • Seven out of 21 WM benchmarks generalized to olfactory WM.
  • Two WM benchmarks did not generalize to the sense of smell.
  • Evidence was insufficient for 12 benchmarks, with mixed support for 4 and 8 unaddressed.

Conclusions:

  • Olfactory WM shares similarities with WM in other senses but exhibits unique characteristics.
  • Existing WM theoretical frameworks should incorporate findings from non-auditory, non-visual senses.
  • Further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms and scope of olfactory WM.