Fragrance and Music: Parallel Pathways to Presence

There’s a reason both music and scent can move us instantly. Each works through direct access to the brain’s most emotionally charged circuitry. At Osero, we believe that exploring these parallels helps us understand and design fragrances that act as powerful tools for shifting our mental state.

The Unseen Symphony

Consider a favourite song: the opening notes catch your attention, the melody deepens your emotion, and the final chords linger, shaping your mood long after it ends. Scent operates in much the same way. Top notes announce their presence with bright, lively clarity, like the shimmering first notes of a symphony. As they fade, heart notes take centre stage, enveloping the senses with complexity and emotional tone. Finally, base notes settle in, anchoring the experience in lasting calm and focus.

This fragrance architecture isn’t just poetic; it is supported by neuroscience. The brain processes scent as patterns or “olfactory melodies” that map to emotional memory, learning, and motivation (source; source). Like music, scent travels through direct limbic pathways, reaching the amygdala and hippocampus without detouring through rational processing, which is why aroma can influence emotion and memory almost immediately (source; source). The closer we look at the brain, the more we see scent and sound activating overlapping regions involved in emotional colouring, memory recall, reward, and motivation (source; source; source).

Composing with Intention

At Osero, our formulation process is inspired by this musical metaphor. Just as a composer layers chords for resonance, we build scent structures that support different internal states: alertness, calm, grounded presence, or open-hearted connection.

Our prototypes are being developed with this principle in mind. Because scent, like music, can be used intentionally, we design each blend to accompany moments of focus, transition, or reflection.

As the digital world accelerates, we find ourselves craving experiences that slow us down and draw us inward. Much like a playlist that shifts your emotional landscape, our future fragrances are being designed to help you curate presence and meaning throughout your day.

Follow our curated Spotify playlist here… 

Scent’s Fast, Emotional Pathway

Odours take a unique neural shortcut, travelling from the nose directly to limbic regions responsible for emotion and memory (source; source). Research on olfactory memory networks shows how scent creates strong emotional associations and pattern-based “melodies” in the brain (source; source).

Music Hitting Similar Emotional Circuitry

Music activates the amygdala, hippocampus, and reward systems such as the ventral striatum, shaping emotion, motivation, and memory (source; source; source). These overlaps explain why scent and music often evoke similarly vivid emotional responses and memories (source).

Scent and Emotional State: Autonomic Anchoring

Scientific evidence shows that scent can influence autonomic responses, including heart rate, respiration patterns, and emotional arousal (source; source). Odour-evoked memories also play a significant role in shaping psychological experience, reinforcing scent as a powerful emotional anchor (source). The parallels between scent and music extend to how they shape memory and emotion, functioning like sensory symphonies composed across neural circuits (source; source).