Human Pheromones: 2010 Powerpoint slides and 2011 poster presentation

Here are the slides with text from a 20 minute-long presentation: Human pheromones: linking neuroendocrinology and ethology (revisited)

20th Biennial Congress of the International Society for Human Ethology 2010, 1 – 5 Aug 2010, Parallel Session A

Background / Purpose: Their conversion from chemical signals to the mammalian brain’s common language of electrical signals allows food odors and pheromones to activate genes. In this mammalian model, electrostatic gene activation by pheromones links them to a marker of neuronal activity, gene expression, and changes in hypothalamic gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion.

Main conclusion: Changes in GnRH secretion are evidenced in downstream effects on other hormone secretion throughout the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Food odors and pheromones activate the prenatal organization of the HPG and HPA axes and postnatally “calibrate” the genetically predisposed survival potential of individuals and species. Calibration of odor preferences occurs via effects on synaptogenesis, synaptolysis, and apoptosis throughout life. In mammals, these effects of odors are routinely associated with neurotransmission, hippocampal neurogenesis, learning, and memory during classically conditioned hormone-driven changes in behavior. In people, these neurophysiological effects of calibration by odors are typically consciously associated only with input from spectral senses (e.g., vision and hearing), or tactile sensations.

Next steps: Extension of this mammalian model to people explains how cerebral activation of hormone-secreting neurons and processes commonly attributed to individual components of the model, like genes or hormones, result in genetically predisposed phenotypic expression, which may or may not be physically or behaviorally manifested during development. The explanation includes (1) a cognitive component associated with the identification and categorization of some odors; (2) an emotional component associated with odors and increased or decreased arousal, appetite, and satiation; (3) a motivational component linked to processes that direct behavior toward or away from food odors and pheromones; and (4) a neurophysiological component, directly linked from odors to gene activation in hormone-secreting nerve cells of brain tissue; to HPG / HPA axis variability, and to behavior.

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An updated poster presentation of the one presented in 2010 is also available: Human pheromones, epigenetics, physiology, and the development of animal behavior.

Association for Chemoreception Sciences Annual Meeting 2011, 13 – 17 Apr 2011, 301

Background/Purpose: We evaluated individual video-taped fifteen-minute interactions of fourteen women with fertile phase levels of Luteinizing Hormone (LH) during a cooperative task. During the task, our male accomplice wore either a standardized androstenol / androsterone mixture diluted in propylene glycol, or just the diluents; with sandalwood odor added to keep him blind to his condition.

Main conclusion: When he was wearing the mixture compared to when he wore the diluent, women were more likely to make eye contact (t (12) = 3.43, p = 0.01; IRR: r = 0.964, p = 0.01). They also laughed more (t (12) = 5.20, p < 0.01; IRR: r = 0.810, p = 0.01), and they subsequently rated themselves as being more attracted to him (t (12) = 2.786, p = 0.016).

Our results combine the known effects of androstenol on LH and on mood with a likely behavioral affect of androsterone.

Explaining a good theory

A theory that you can’t explain to a bartender is probably no damn good. ~ Ernest Rutherford, (1871-1937) As quoted in The Language of God (2006) by Francis Collins, p.60

Scientific fact: Chemicals associated with nutrition and food odors cause the development of food preferences.

Scientific theory: Chemicals associated with people and social odors cause the development of social preferences.

Scientific theory: Pheromones are social odors that cause animals to develop species specific preferences like mate preferences.

Scientific fact: Spices are associated with food odors that enhance the appeal of food.

Extending scientific facts established in studies of other animals to people: Pheromones are chemicals associated with socialization that enhance the appeal of most people. Scent of Eros™ products contain human pheromones that enhance the appeal of people.

Scientific fallacy: Visual, auditory, and tactile cues cause our animalistic attraction to other people.

Researchers Investigate Epigenetic Patterns In Multiple Conditions

The Wall Street Journal (2/28, D3, Wang, Subscription Publication) reports that increasingly, research is showing that life experiences can influence the genes of offspring, as passed on through epigenetic inheritance, which alters the activity of genes. Researchers have found that stress is linked to epigenetic changes that can predispose animals to cocaine addiction. Other investigators studied why babies born to mothers who have experienced trauma are more susceptible to obesity and heart disease, and have suggested that trauma can lead to epigenetic changes that change fetal metabolism. Researchers also suggest that epigenetic patterns may help in diagnosing psychiatric disorders.

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The article, which I commented on at their site, will be available for approximately one week from the link above. Hopefully, the informative video will remain available. It is the best representation of epigenetic cause and effect that I have seen, and is also very concise (less than 4 minutes). A few minutes to watch it, and you can be very informed about some complex issues in behavioral development that are linked to the epigenetic effects of food odors and social odors on genetically predisposed behaviors.

Creation of different species without physical barriers (Part One)

“Caught in the act: Study discovers microbes speciating.” February 21st, 2012.

More information: Cadillo-Quiroz H, Didelot X, Held NL, Herrera A, Darling A, et al. (2012) Patterns of Gene Flow Define Species of Thermophilic Archaea. PLoS Biol 10(2): e1001265. (full text is free).

My comment:

Speciation sans physical barriers to gene flow suggests determination by the ecological influence of nutrient-associated chemicals and their intracellular metabolism to species-specific pheromones, which enable self / non-self recognition. This extends the model here to speciation associated with physical barriers in cichlid fish and in human endogenous retrovirus (HERV)-infected primates. In theory, viruses epigenetically modify intracellular signaling pathways, which is how they “drive” the emergence of different species. This theory incorporates their pervasive influence across species, chemical ecology, and detailed molecular mechanisms for species survival. It also attests to the biological fact that the study of asexual selection in microbes and sexual selection mechanisms in vertebrates must be approached from the same perspective. It does not allow for asexual selection, sexual selection, or the Creation of new species to be based on spectral input and/or visual perception. There’s no model for that!

Genes not culture drive humans forward (an antithetical approach)

Culture not genes drives humans forward

“Evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading Professor Mark Pagel argues that our cultural influences are more important to our success as a species than our genes in his new book published this week.”

My comment:

Epigenetic influences of nutrition and socialization on intracellular signalling pathways link epigenetic cause directly to gene activation and stochastic gene expression. These influences are required for genetically predisposed phenotypic changes in the body and behavior of organisms from microbes to man. This biological fact makes it clear that we must first deny or ignore what is currently known about molecular biology to approach evolutionary biology from perspectives on cultural influences.

All species adapt to their social environment, as was recently demonstrated by mixing honeybees with different genotypes. The honeybee already serves as a model organism for studying human immunity, disease resistance, allergic reaction, circadian rhythms, antibiotic resistance, the development of the brain and behavior, mental health, longevity, diseases of the X chromosome,learning and and memory, as well as conditioned responses to sensory stimuli. Is colony collapse a problem of culture?

What is the likelihood that culture “...created a species with a suite of adaptations for making use of the prosperous social environment of human culture, among them are our ultra-social nature, our language, morality and even some individual differences in talents and skills.” Creation of species that  leads to culture  is antithetical to the cultural creation of a species.  Which approach incorporates the science of molecular biology that underlies evolutionary biology?

Effects of pheromones on menstrual synchrony and a gay man

A correspondent asked: Can anyone tell me of research looking at what effect pheromones might have on a man (in this case, a gay man), living with and among women over a long period of time?  This question was asked of me by a male student, I’m guessing in just such a situation, after we had been discussing the effects on women, such as the dormitory effect of synched menstrual cycles

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I’m not aware of any studies, and would be surprised to learn of any, since most people remain unconvinced that human pheromones have the same epigenetic effects as food odors on the gene, cell, tissue, organ, organ system pathway that links both food odors and pheromones to the development of brain-directed behavior across species. In any case, the results of the effects of pheromones acting via their direct effect on gonadotropin releasing hormone secretion from the medial preoptic area of the anterior hypothalamus (e.g., in mammals) could only be partially predicted by his genotype and nutrient and pheromone exposure-enhanced phenotypic expression across his lifetime of experience.

Clearly, food odor and pheromone-induced changes in the neuroanatomy of his brain are predicted by the honeybee model (e.g., for studying human immunity, disease resistance, allergic reaction, circadian rhythms, antibiotic resistance, the development of the brain and behavior, mental health, longevity, and diseases of the X chromosome), and a recent study showed that the mixing of genotypes had what they refer to as indirect genetic effects on social behavior (i.e., “behaviors of single workers can change in response to the genotype of social partners”). (more…)

X-rays Showcase Creation of Similar Internal Portraits of Whole Cells

This video provides a moving “picture” of the complexity involved in the construction of one cell among the many types of cells found across diverse species from microbes to man. It exemplifies discoveries made by “pattern-seeking” scientists and laypersons who think about what others may simply accept based on what they can “see”.

Video: X-rays Paint Whole-Cell Portraits

by Erin Loury on 17 February 2012, 6:59 PM

 VANCOUVER, CANADA—Imagine photographing every seed in a watermelon without cutting a single slice. Scientists can use x-rays to create similar internal portraits of whole cells, they reported here this morning at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (which publishes ScienceNOW). Like performing a cellular CT scan, researchers rapidly freeze a cell and snap its x-ray image once every 100 milliseconds. They can reconstruct an entire cell from 90-200 images in about 5 minutes. Using the differing light-absorption properties of organelles—the cell’s functional structures—the scientists can automatically identify and color-code this inner machinery, like in the T cell shown above (the nucleus is bright blue, mitochondria are pink, and lysosomes are yellow). Researchers can use the technique to count and calculate the volume of organelles, and even measure how much hemoglobin malarial parasites consume inside red blood cells. Peering inside a whole cell without the laborious slicing and staining of electron microscopy makes x-ray imaging quick, quantitative, and decidedly less mess.

Teaching science to the religious: theories of development

“Teaching science to the religious? Focus on how theories develop.” February 19th, 2012.

Comment from a correspondent: ”Religious [people] base their belief in God on a feeling, like indigestion  …  Unfortunately, there is no antacid medication for stupidity…”

My response:  You seem to be conflating religion and belief in God. This invites comparison to the belief in God held by some molecular biologists (note the mention in the article of NIH director Francis Collins) who may better understand how medications for mental disorders change affective responses to sensory input. In this context, stupidity may or may not be a mental “disorder,” and it is problematic to classify via current knowledge of experiential changes in the brain that correlate with affective responses. Perhaps those with no religion have never experienced a brain change that others may or may not link to their belief in God. Clearly, however, some medications change the brain by altering the molecular biology of intracellular signaling, gene activation, and gene expression in cells of brain tissue in other mammals, and in people who believe in God, and in people who don’t. The basis for the development of these medications and their effect on hormones / neurotransmitters, which affect behavior, is the molecular biology that is common across all species from microbes to man. Until someone explains the commonality of the molecular biology, conflation of religion with belief in God, with indigestion and with stupidity seems unscientific, which I think is the point that people, like Miller, is trying to make. He said:  “It was and is philosophically consistent to be a person of faith and also a scientist.” (e.g.? like the scientists who developed the antacid medications for indigestion based on the molecular biology common to all living species?). Did you intend to indicate that this philosophical consistency is stupid? My intent is to indicate that philosophical consistency incorporates what is currently known about the across-species consistency of molecular mechanisms, like those found across species that incorporate the gene, cell, tissue, organ, organ system approach to life.

Do Pheromones Play a Role in Our Sex Lives: Scientific American

Do Pheromones Play a Role in Our Sex Lives?

“Humans might use a nuanced concoction of chemicals even more complex than formal pheromones to attract potential mates. By Adam Hadhazy  | February 13, 2012 |

Excerpt: “Other work suggests that less familiar inputs might exist for a human pheromonal network. Investigations continue into a possible pheromone nerve, known as cranial nerve 0, or the terminal nerve. [For more about the terminal nerve, read "Sex and the Secret Nerve," by Douglas Fields, in Scientific American MIND, February/March 2007.]…”

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Fields has supporters, among them James Kohl, co-author of “The Scent of Eros,” a book on pheromones.

“He’s right on,” Kohl said. “We have known there is some physical link, but [nerve zero] really helps to define it. Maybe a lot of neuroscientists don’t know about it, but people who study the olfactory system and pheromones see that and say that’s really important.”

Did viruses make mammals communicate with pheromones?

Mammals Made By Viruses

by Carl Zimmer

Source: Discover Magazine
Excerpt from the article at the link (above):

“The big picture that’s now emerging is quite amazing. Viruses have rained down on mammals, and on at least six occasions, they’ve gotten snagged in their hosts and started carrying out the same function: building placentas.”

My comments:

“The concept that viruses might play a fundamental role in the evolution of the complexity of cellular life, as here proposed, may seem novel to many, especially to evolutionary biologists (Villarreal, 2004, p. 310).”

Your article reminded me of past discussion on the evolutionary psychology yahoo group  that resulted from my mention of the 1532 genes and interactions among them in the context of sexual reproduction that requires the mammalian placenta (Lynch, Leclerc, May, & Wagner, 2011). I learned about the likely involvement of viruses when I was asked about the role of pheromones in species specific communication as might occur in a new human species—detailed by Greg Bear in 1999/2003 in two of his science fiction novels (see Bear, 2004). But his questions, presentation to the American Philosophical Society, and comments led me to LP Villarreal (2004), and other more recent works that contain background information on the involvement of viruses in the creation of new species (Villarreal, 2009; Villarreal & Witzany, 2009). These works make it more clear that “…viruses may well be the unseen creator that most likely did contribute to making us human (Villarreal, 2004, p. 322).”

Did they do this by epigenetically altering food acquisition behavior, pheromone production, and thus social behavior? Perhaps viruses are calibrating all mechanisms for both individual survival and for speciation across all species. If so, shall we credit them for all of Creation?

References:

Bear, G. (2004). When Genes Go Walkabout. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 148(3), 324-331.

Lynch, V. J., Leclerc, R. D., May, G., & Wagner, G. P. (2011). Transposon-mediated rewiring of gene regulatory networks contributed to the evolution of pregnancy in mammals. Nat Genet, 43(11), 1154-1159.

Villarreal, L. P. (2004). Can Viruses Make Us Human? Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 148(3), 296-323.

Villarreal, L. P. (2009). Origin of group identity: viruses, addiction and cooperation. New York: Springer.

Villarreal, L. P., & Witzany, G. (2009). Viruses are essential agents within the roots and stem of the tree of life. J Theor Biol, 262(4), 698-710.