The Proustian Moment
The workings of the mind and memory are perhaps the greatest mystery to us as humans. Although we like to think memory is a chronological remembrance of events as they happened, the reality is that memories are often lost in the backwaters of our mind, only to resurface when triggered by sensory experiences.
Marcel Proust, the famous 20th century novelist and thinker, coined the term "involuntary memory" to summarize the sudden flood of memories according to an outer stimulus like scent or taste. This became known as a "Proustian memory" in honor of his work.
Although Proust isn't remembered for being a philosopher, in my opinion, his thoroughly scientific observations of how smell and memory are interconnected are remarkable.
What is a Proustian memory?
Sometimes called the Proust effect or a Proust moment, a Proustian memory is an involuntary memory called to the surface of the psyche triggered by a sensory experience like smell.
In his book À la recherche du temps perdu or In Search of Lost Time, the main character, an analogy for Proust himself, remembers a childhood moment triggered by the taste of a French Madeleine cake soaked in tea.
“No sooner had the warm liquid mixed with the crumbs touched my palate than a shudder ran through me and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary thing that was happening to me. An exquisite pleasure had invaded my senses, something isolated, detached, with no suggestion of its origin. ”
Proust didn't know it at the time, but the Proust "madeleine memory" is scientifically correct. It would take some decades before scientists could pinpoint exactly why sensory experiences trigger involuntary memories.
How are fragrance and memory connected?
In recent years, scientists have begun to decipher the mysterious workings of fragrance and memory. Sensory experiences are connected to the limbic system in the brain, the part of the brain involved in our behavioral and emotional responses, and is related to our basic survival urges.
The limbic system is also connected to the amygdala and hippocampus, which are involved in regulating emotion and emotional memories.
A study in 2010 found that memories associated with smells are more likely to be remembered because they are more emotionally evocative. Proust was right on the money when he talked about the taste of the madeleine dipped in tea triggering an involuntary memory of his grandmother in the French countryside.
In a similar vein, studies have shown that vivid autobiographical memories tend to be the result of emotional events. Participants could recall very specific details with more clarity when compared to neural events.
There seems to be a tight connection between emotion and memory. Psychologists discovered that the amygdala is connected to smell and memory because the amygdala is involved in higher-level perceptual processing. This emotional arousal means certain smells trigger memories giving us proof that smell is tied to memory.
In a similar way, smell affects mood and can balance emotions, which remarkably connects more to what Proust describes in his novel.
This new research done by psychologists on the mind and scent calls into question our version of events gone past.
Are our memories reality?
The Proust madeliene memory calls us to question whether our memories really are an impartial reality.
We like to think that we are mostly sensible and rational beings, but when emotion and memory are so inextricably tied together, another picture emerges.
According to the Proust effect, we are highly emotional beings that are recalling memories based on how we felt in that moment.
“This new sensation having had on me the effect which love has of filling me with a precious essence; or rather this essence was not in me it was me. ... Whence did it come? What did it mean? How could I seize and apprehend it?”
Proust is able to pinpoint exactly how he felt drinking that cup of tea as a young boy without knowing why he felt this way. The removal of the conscious mind from emotion and memory creates a kind of frozen vignette in time.
“And suddenly the memory revealed itself. The taste was that of the little piece of madeleine which on Sunday mornings at Combray (because on those mornings I did not go out before mass), when I went to say good morning to her in her bedroom, my aunt Léonie used to give me, dipping it first in her own cup of tea or tisane.”
The character can recall all the details of his Aunt Leonie. He remembers it was a Sunday morning and that he said good morning to her in his bedroom. But only the memory associated with strong emotion can be recalled in this amount of detail. Moreover, while he may remember lots of small facts, the character's love for his Aunt has skewed his perception, making the memories not impartial or reliable.
A simple theory: reliving events through sensory experiences
Although it is a simple theory compared to some, the madeleine effect impacts all of us on a deep level.
It calls us to question our memories and reality. Is what we remember objectively true, or colored by our emotional state at the time? In some modes of therapy, scent can be used to help ease traumatic memories or pain.
Essential oils have the potential to improve some anxiety disorders and post traumatic stress disorder among other applications, because they use the sense of smell to balance emotions.
Marcel Proust, a novelist from 20th century France, would have had no idea that his momentary experience of taste and a madeleine would impact psychology in the way that it has.
“The sight of the little madeleine had recalled nothing to my mind before I tasted it. And all from my cup of tea.”
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I went down a rabbit hole to discover what we really need to be creative and how to balance it all.