Chestnuts roasting on an open fire: Swetha Sivakumar on the science of Christmas aromas

If rum, plum, sugared flour signal instant joy, it’s because fragrances travel very differently through the brain. See how that ties in with the festive season.

The warmth of cinnamon, earthiness of nutmeg, and fresh scent of pine all add to the holiday spirit, at this time of year.

Scents often intertwine with memories, making us nostalgic and bringing a sense of comfort. Why is that? Well, researchers have found that humans process smell very differently from other sensory inputs. Where all other sensory data passes through the thalamus, which functions as a traffic policeman, smell takes a different route, directly accessing the olfactory bulb (known