Very interesting, this thalamus story. Come to think of it, true, we cannot conjure up a smell in our head. But we can memorize smells up to a point where we can almost smell it, don't you think?
A coffee factory on a street in Hoboken and the chocolate factory close to where we used to live. The smell through the open window in the night train towards the Provence. How all of a sudden somewhere down Lyon in comes the smell of the south.Lavender and thyme.
Memory and smells are closely connected. Maybe it's good we can't conjure up smels in our head and so are protected from too great apetites.(chocolate! )

And yes,it is a strange idea to have a bridal chamber as part of our brain.