How chemical information processing interferes with face processing: a magnetoencephalographic study

It is concluded that the early activity differences represent subconscious olfactory information processing leading to enhanced memory performances irrespective of the hedonic value, at least if they are only subconsciously processed. The later activity is suggested to reflect conscious CO2 perception negatively affecting face encoding and therefore leading to reduced subsequent face recognition. We interpret that conscious processing of nasal chemical stimulation competes with deep face encoding with respect to cortical resources, whereas subconscious processing of nasal chemical stimulation does not.