Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., November 08, 2009 Cheshvan 21, 5770 | | Israel Time: 22:04 (EST+7)
Haaretz israel news English
web haaretz.com
Jewish World Haaretz Toolbar
Diplomacy
Defense Opinion National
Print Edition
Car Rental
Focus U.S.A. Strenger than Fiction Business Travel Magazine Week's End Anglo File Books
Share |
Last update - 12:35 06/11/2009
Israeli scientists look to 'smell therapy' to treat trauma
By Reuters
Tags: Israel news 

The aroma of Grandmother's fresh-baked cookies etch themselves into the brain's emotional memory, but so does a whiff of rotten fish, Israeli scientists said in a finding that might help in treating trauma patients.

They said bad smells make the biggest first impression - which is likely an evolutionary defense mechanism - but early pleasant scents also make an imprint on the brain.

"We found that the first pairing or association between an object and a smell had a distinct signature in the brain," even in adults, Yaara Yeshurun of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, whose study appears in the journal Current Biology, said in a statement.
Advertisement
"This 'etching' of initial odor memories in the brain was equal for good and bad smells, yet was unique to odor."

To test smell-related memories, the researchers presented a group of volunteers with a set of objects, and then associated each with a smell and a sound.

Some of the smells and sounds were pleasant, such as a pear or a guitar, and others were unpleasant, such as a dead fish or the screech of a power drill.

A week later, they asked people to recall the objects and found people tended to remember the unpleasant associations best, whether they were smells or sounds.

Next, they did similar experiments while people's brains were being scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI.

In these experiments, they noticed that a part of the hippocampus and amygdala lit up when smells were first associated with a new object, but not sounds.

Much more study is needed, but they said the findings could lead to better ways to help improve memories, or even offer better ways to help erase early, traumatic memories
PROMOTION: Mamilla Hotel
Bookmark to del.icio.us  
 
Folkie fights demolition
Pete Seeger uses 'Turn, Turn, Turn' to help end Israeli razing of Palestinian homes.
Coach Hitler
U.K. children believe the Fuhrer managed Germany's national soccer team, a poll shows.
  1.   Already being done in the United Kingdom 14:51  |  Chris Linthwaite 06/11/09
  2.   Touch stimulation also took troops out of mind trauma 21:42  |  Rankoo 08/11/09
Special Offers
Advertisement
Eldan Rent a Car
Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on online reservations
Date Local Jewish Singles
Ready to meet your match? Join Jdate today!
Junkyard
Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt
More Headlines
21:49 Turkey PM: Israel war crimes worse than Sudan
21:23 Abbas tells Palestinians: Israel doesn't want peace
21:48 Hamas rejects Mofaz call to talk as 'Zionist vulgarity'
21:45 American Jewry kicks off annual conference, but guest star Obama cancels
19:49 MK Ben Simon urges Labor rebels: Don't split off yet
14:18 Goldstone criticizes 'lukewarm' U.S. response to Gaza report
14:49 Hitler bypasses Apple censors: Mein Kampf for your iPhone
23:50 TV ROUND-UP: Leaders speak at Rabin memorial; parachuter crashes
17:33 Elderly Israeli dies three days after getting swine flu vaccine
08:45 Report: Hezbollah rearming for imminent conflict with Israel
12:01 Report: Suspected Fort Hood shooter prayed at same mosque as 9/11 terrorists
07:24 U.S. top brass: Nuclear Iran is existential threat to Israel
12:30 Settler women cry sexual harassment by Israel Police
Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Site rules |
| Advert: Recommended Restaurants | Makom: Engaging on Israel
| Search engine marketing
Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.
© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved