Virtual olfactory device in EEG and olfactory conditioning task: An OERP study

Aim of this study is to investigate innovative olfactory applications of cognitive neuroscience in order to improve basic knowledge as well as to develop novel devices for enhancing synaesthetic experiences through olfactory stimulation. We arranged an experiment of olfactive conditioned evoked potentials by analyzing Event Related Potential (ERP) of adult safe volunteers during the conditioning perception of 2 odor stimuli, in an experiment of emotional face recognition task. Specifically, it was developed a paradigm of classical conditioning in which the three types of odors (pleasant, unpleasant, neuter) were conditioned on images of neuter face expression and these results were compared with direct results of olfactory stimulation. The main experimental evidence of our study consists in significant values in ERPs components in direction of a greater amplitude and slower latency in unpleasant condition. On the basis of these results one might assume that an unpleasant odor can modulate, in a cross modal way, the perceptions of emotional and neutral face expressions, and it’s highlighted in an early ERPs component (P1) in conditioning way only for neutral expressions.