The neurological traces of early, formative events are embedded in the OFC, which, in turn, is connected with other memory-serving brain structures. So, for example, a smell that in early memory is associated with a pleasurable experience will likely be judged by the OFC in a positive way. Through its access to memory traces, conscious and unconscious, the OFC “decides” the emotional value of stimuli—for example, are we intensely drawn to or repelled by a person or object or activity, or are we neutral? It is constantly surveying the emotional significance of situations, their personal meaning
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