Why is it that the brain can generate music with extremely high clarity but not as much with smells and tastes?

Question

Why is it that the brain can generate music with extremely high clarity but not as much with smells and tastes?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Smells and tastes are simple *things*, but music is a set of complex patterns. Our brains are designed to learn and memorize patterns because that ability is useful to survival.

I’m a fan of classical music, and I always marvel how so many high level conductors have committed to memory incredibly dense and complex pieces of music. Here is a performance of the well-known [Beethoven’s 9th Symphony,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJQ32q2k8Uo) conducted entirely from memory by [Daniel Barenboim.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Barenboim)