This is just my hypothesis but I have been thinking about the role of sensory
systems and possible contributive role in the development and maintenance of
memory loss in Alzheimers.One often hears of
folks who live on Greek islands and Costa Rica who live past 100 and still
maintain an active lifestyle.Attributions are given to their diet,social
networking,and minimal stress.But one thing that is rarely investigated is the
role and contribution of cooking style.I imagine that the aroma of cooking
abounds in most of those households.
Could it be possible that stove top cooking stimulates the brain because it
allows for the aroma of the sauces and spices and the various victuals? We do
know that smell stimulates the brain and may positively affect memory. It seems
that our society with its use of microwave and other similar devices have made
it virtually impossible to smell the aroma emanating from cooking food. In
other cultures the smell of food cooking is a daily part of
housecooking.But in the advanced Western cultures the trend seems to be to kill
the olfactory nerves.We are probably a too deodorized society. I think that
there needs to be studies to look at what effect
household cooking history has in the onset of memory loss in Alzheimers.
The role of olfactory factors in memory and creativity
have been supported historically.During the Renaissance stories abound of
artists who kept rotten apples in their place of work.Therre is a definitive
"Thanksgiving" cooking factor that emanate stories of family and
friends.Btw,although fictitious,do you at times get the feeling that Garrison
Keillor's (he could not get an American woman to take him seriously,so he found
a wife in Scandinavia) Praire Home Companion took place with good stuff to eat?
There is the story of the French dude artist ,Monet.who was
stimulated to produce a painting by the aroma of a petite madeleine.
The aroma of curry supposedly stimulates memory-a possible expalantion of the
brilliance of students from curry consumption societies. So the Sylvester
Stove Top and Skillet hypothesis of Alzheimers
postulates that the decline and substitution of aroma generating cooking could
be a contributive factor to the increase of memory loss in Alzheimers and
dementic disorders.Please note tha theSST&S hypothesis does not exclude brain
factors.Brain factors can affect behavior but it could also be true that
environmental olfactory factors
can influence the brain.
I am underground but you can still send me sonething.
Michael Sylvester,PhD
Daytona Beach,Florida
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