After surveying people from all walks of life, we found that there are scents that evoke vivid memories of past experiences. Decades from now, people will flood their minds with forgotten childhood experiences. Unforgettable aromas can evoke memories of the past, such as relevant places, events and people that come to mind clearly.

In general, it is believed that humans have a hard time remembering past smells, even when correlated with sight. Researchers have extensively studied the ability to recognize long-term and short-term odors, and psychologists have found some interesting results.

1. The problem of aroma identification   

A very important skill in wine tasting is to be able to identify and use precise words to describe the odor and flavor characteristics of the wine being tasted. When describing a wine, words like "intense blackcurrant and chili-like aromas with smoky oak" are more expressive than "herbaceous and other flavors". clear feeling. These two expressions are describing the same wine, but the former description is obviously better because it accurately conveys more taste and flavor information of the wine to the audience. Whether we can specifically describe the aroma of a wine mainly depends on our ability to perceive the smell.

Even if you focus all your energy on sensing the aromas of wine, you don't necessarily have to be a good wine critic. Early scientific research pointed out that even with considerable practical experience, people can only correctly perceive 1/12 of the aroma. Recently, the research has been revised, and the number of aromas that humans can recognize depends on two factors, one is to consciously increase the number of recognized smells, and the other is to consciously recognize unusual aromas. For example, comparing the aromas of raspberry and strawberry, it is generally difficult for people to accurately identify the two smells.

It is generally believed that aromas that people often encounter in daily life are easier and more accurate to identify than other aromas. However, when people actually encounter these everyday scents, only about half of them can accurately identify and represent them. How many times have you been frustrated by not being able to smell wine or accurately describe its scent, a condition known as the tip of the nose phenomenon, and many people have experienced it The torture of this phenomenon.  

2. How to improve the ability to recognize aroma   

So, how can we improve our ability to recognize aromas? The cause of the "tip of the nose" syndrome may be that the link between smell and language is too weak. The researchers found that when a person was identifying common odors, he was 40%-50% correct. And if the scent identified this time is the first time the person has encountered, after knowing the name of the scent, the probability of him or her identifying the scent next time can reach 80%-90%. If a person recognizes an aroma that is similar to strawberry, raspberry, etc., the accuracy rate will only reach 60%.  

Those who learn the aromas of wine from books generally need a long period of training before they are qualified for the job of a sommelier. There are no shortcuts to identifying aromas. This actually means that a qualified sommelier must taste many wines on a regular basis and be able to speak or write their aroma characteristics with standard descriptors at any time and place. Another key to identifying aromas is to consciously memorize those tasting terms. In our daily life, we also need to pay attention to the common smells around us. However, this type of smell is generally not paid special attention to by many people, and when we encounter some familiar smells in wine tasting, it is difficult for us to remember the names of these smells. So, if possible, try to write down the aromas you smell from the wine, and test your judgments against other people's feedback. Only with constant practice can you improve your ability to identify wine aromas.  

3. How to improve the ability of aroma memory   

During actual wine tasting, long-term memory of the aroma of a wine is also crucial. However, we prefer to use our tasting experience from a few weeks ago to help us judge our current wine tasting. Studies have shown that humans have a good long-term memory of smells, and the memory of smells is generally difficult to forget. One study found that people recognized an average of 67 percent of the time on their first smell test, and an average of 65 percent a year later. We need to consciously associate aromas with other memorable events, or describe them verbally, so that aroma memory can improve. And through concise and accurate aroma descriptions, it can help us remember these aromas more firmly.  

Fourth, the memory of aroma varies from person to person   

In short, it does. In general, women are better at identifying scents than men. This advantage also extends to the memory of smells, including male-specific scents such as cigars, beer, and motor oil. Fortunately, men can overcome this shortcoming through scientific steps. Although the reasons are unclear, researchers generally agree that "better recognition ability is not due to superior discriminating ability, but is likely to be related to language ability." Recent research has pointed out that men and women have differences in the organization of language function in the brain , is likely a factor in women's better scent recognition ability.  

Interestingly, when tested on a group of normal and blind people, the scent recognition abilities of the two were comparable. Another study of normal and blind people showed that professional aroma recognition training (including training in verbal descriptions of aromas) improved the ability to recognize aromas to a certain extent in both groups. This result further supports the idea that prolonged casual exposure to scents does not necessarily improve our ability to recognize scents. Like everything else in life, if we want to change this, we need to work on it.