Researchers have managed to identify the brain mechanisms behind the famous “Proust madeleine” phenomenon in which odors bring back childhood memories. This work shows that early olfactory experiences leave a lasting imprint in the brain, capable of reactivating the context and emotions associated with memory, throughout life.Communiqué
A team of CNRS scientists1 to therefore identify the cerebral mechanisms at the origin of the famous “Proust madeleine”, a phenomenon during which odors bring back particularly vivid and emotionally charged childhood memories.2and which until now remained scientifically unexplained. Published in PLOS Biology on July 14, 2026, This work shows that early olfactory experiences leave a lasting imprint in the brain, capable of reactivating the context and emotions associated with memory, throughout life.
Neuroscientists have highlighted the central role of neurons in the olfactory bulb3a region of the brain that continues to develop during childhood, in the “Proust madeleine” effect. When these neurons are reactivated in adulthood by childhood odor, they engage the brain circuits involved in memory and reward. With age and the reorganization of brain networks, memories gradually become more anchored in the emotion circuits.
To establish this result, neuroscientists first collected data via a form completed by volunteers. The data obtained were then useful in the design of an experimental model involving mice4.
The study also shows that the “Proust madeleine” effect results from the association of smell with repeated positive experiences during childhood and throughout life. Over time, the memory “imprints” itself in the brain networks, which explains its remarkable persistence as well as its strong emotional charge.
1 -Working at the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CNRS/Inserm/Lyon 1 University).
2 -Named in homage to Marcel Proust, author of the novel On the Side of Swann (1913), in which the narrator describes the impression of reminiscence provided by tasting a madeleine dipped in tea. The “Proust madeleine” phenomenon can also occur following stimuli affecting all the senses.
3 – Positioned in the anterior cranial fossa, under the frontal lobe.
4 – The mice were exposed, during their youth, to an odor associated with an enriched and positive environment. As adults, this same odor was presented to them in a neutral environment in order to assess the persistence of olfactory memory.
Positive early-life olfactory memory is rooted in the olfactory bulb and triggers large-scale changes beyond the olfactory system Jules Dejou, Anna Athanassi, Théo Brunel, Marc Thevenet, Anne Didier, Nathalie Mandairon, PLOS Biology, juillet 2026
