|
Scientific evidence
continues to validate the concept of human pheromones as it was first
portrayed for a general readership in The Scent of Eros: Mysteries
of Odor in Human Sexuality (1995). The 2002 book revision
updates what is known about human pheromones, and includes information
available before July, 2002. The following information, including more
recent works, which add to knowledge about human pheromones, is
available for researchers or others who share an interest in the
growing body of knowledge about the role of pheromones in behavior. Books and book reviews Junk Science Published on conditioning Published on pubertal onset Mammalian studies 2006, 2005, 2004, before 2004 Debunked studies
Published
in 2007 Books
and book chapters van den
Hurk, R. (2007). Intraspecific chemical communication in vertebrates
with
special attention to its role in reproduction. Pheromone Information
Centre, Herz,
R.
(2007). The
Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell. William
Morrow, Kohl,
JV
(2007). The Mind's Eyes: Human pheromones, neuroscience, and male
sexual
preferences. In
M. R. Kauth (Ed.), Handbook of the Evolution of Human Sexuality
(pp.
313-369). Hoffmann,
H. (2007). The role of classical conditioning in sexual arousal. In
Articles
and presentations Gottfried JA. What
can an orbitofrontal
cortex-endowed animal do with smells? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007
Dec;1121:102-20.
Quote: “Specifically, as an epitome of the neuro-behavioral interface
between
sensation, learning, and experience, the following section describes
two recent
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments from our
laboratory
demonstrating the role of human OFC in olfactory perceptual learning
and
associative (Pavlovian) conditioning.” Berglund,
H., Lindstrom, P., Dhejne-Helmy, C., & Savic, I. (2007).
Male-to-Female
Transsexuals Show Sex-Atypical Hypothalamus Activation When Smelling
Odorous
Steroids. Cereb Cortex, 3, 3. Quote: "...suggests that in transsexuals
the
organization of certain sexually dimorphic circuits of the anterior
hypothalamus could be sex atypical. It adds a new dimension to our
previous
reports by showing that the observed effects are not necessarily
learned and
that a sex-atypical activation by the 2 putative pheromones may reflect
neuronal reorganization." Chen,
D.,
and Zhou, W. (2007). Relationship between Olfactory and Emotional
Competencies,
Association for Chemoreception Sciences 29th Annual Meeting, Dematte,
M. L., Osterbauer, R., and Spence, C. (2007). Olfactory Cues
Modulate
Facial Attractiveness. Chem. Senses, 32(6):603-10. Quote:"... the
results
of the present study add to a growing list of studies demonstrating
that the
presence of olfactory cues can exert a small but significant crossmodal
influence on people’s judgments of a variety of nonolfactory stimulus
attributes/qualities..." Doucet,
S., Soussignan, R., Sagot, P., and Schaal, B. (2007). The
"smellscape" of mother's breast: effects of odor masking and
selective unmasking on neonatal arousal, oral, and visual responses.
Dev
Psychobiol. 49(2), 129-38. Quote: "… the findings of the present study
confirm that the effluvium of the human mother’s breast… delays the
onset of
crying and activates appetitive behavior, and (at least in males) tends
to
promote visual input in 3–4 day-old newborns. Further, the odor of the
whole
breast and the isolated odors of the areola, of the nipple or of milk
appear
comparable in releasing these behavioral effects." Goubet,
N., Strasbaugh, K., and Chesney, J. (2007). Familiarity breeds
content?
Soothing effect of a familiar odor on full-term newborns. J Dev Behav
Pediatr.
28(3), 189-94. Abstract excerpt: “A familiar odor is effective in
significantly
reducing crying and grimacing during a minor painful procedure.” Jacob,
T.,
Wang, L., Boulkroune, N., March, A., and Walker, N. (2007). Changes in
olfactory threshold, hedonics and brain activity in response to
repetitive
exposure to androstadienone, Association for Chemoreception Sciences
29th
Annual Meeting, Kelahan,
LC, Hoffmann, H, & Kohl, JV (2007). Putative human pheromones may
condition
a human hormonal effect/behavioral affect. Poster presented at the
Society for
the Scientific Study of Sexuality Annual Meeting, Kelahan,
LC, Hoffmann, H, Kohl, JV, & Shea, A. (2007). Putative human
pheromones may
condition a human hormonal effect/behavioral affect. Poster presented
at the
Association for Chemoreception Sciences 29th Annual Meeting, Keller,
A., Zhuang, H., Chi, Q., Vosshall, L. B., & Matsunami, H. (2007).
Genetic variation in a human odorant receptor alters odour perception.
Nature, 449(7161):468-72. Quotes: “We identify OR7D4 as a
significant
heritable factor influencing androstenone and androstadienone
perception, thus
providing the first reported link between genetic polymorphisms in an
odorant
receptor gene and altered perception of the ligands that activate this
receptor.” “In this study we investigated only the olfactory percept
reported
when odorous steroids were sniffed, but olfactory exposure to
androstenone and
androstadienone has also been shown to induce several physiological
responses
in both men and women.” Kohl,
JV
(2007). The Mind's Eyes: Modeling the Development of Diverse Sexual
Preferences. Paper presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of
Sexuality Annual Meeting, Li,
W., Moallem, I., Paller, K. A., & Gottfried, J. A. (2007).
Subliminal
smells can guide social preferences. Psychol Sci., 18(12), 1044-1049.
Quote:”…
the time-honored belief that scents play an important role in human
social settings
appears to withstand scientific scrutiny. Furthermore, our data suggest
that it
is in the absence of conscious awareness that odors best exert their
effects.” Oberzaucher,
E., Grammer, K., Zimmer, K., Fischer, G., Soini, M. V., Dixon, S. J.,
Xu, Y., Zomer,
S., Brereton, R. G., and Penn, D. J. (2007). The Identification of
Compounds in
Human Sweat - Signals of Individuality, Gender and Genes, Association
for
Chemoreception Sciences 29th Annual Meeting, Wang,
Z., Nudelman, A., & Storm, D. R. (2007). Are pheromones
detected
through the main olfactory epithelium? Mol Neurobiol., 35(3), 317-323.
Conclusion: In light of recent studies in mice which indicate that main
olfactory inputs can modulate pheromone responses in gonadotropin
releasing
hormone neurons in the hypothalamus, it is plausible that pheromone
responses
to androstadienone and estratetraenol also originate in the main
olfactory
epithelium. Wedekind C,
et
al., (2007). The major histocompatibility complex and
perfumers’
descriptions of human body odors. Evolutionary Psychology 5 (2),
330-343.
PDF. KEY FINDING: It seems obvious that both the MHC and volatile
steroids conrtibute to human body odor. Whittle,
C.
L., Fakharzadeh, S., Eades, J., and Preti, G. (2007). Human Breath
Odors
and Their Use in Diagnosis. Ann NY Acad Sci 1098(1), 252-266. KEY
ISSUE: The
authors developed a protocol to help differentiate individuals with
chronic
halitosis from those with the genetic, odor-producing metabolic
disorder
trimethylaminuria (TMAU). Quote: "…the assumption that the individual
with
TMAU will always smell “like fish” is incorrect…” Penn
DJ, Oberzaucher E, Grammer K, Fischer G, Soini HA, Wiesler D, Novotny
MV, Dixon
SJ, Xu Y, Brereton RG. Individual and gender fingerprints in human
body
odour. J R Soc Interface. 2007 Apr 22;4(13):331-340 Quote: “We
found that
although the axillary sweat of men and women had remarkably similar
GC–MS
profiles, we could statistically discriminate the sexes, and we
identified the
chemical structures of 12 of these marker compounds characteristic of
gender.” Kline
JP, Schwartz GE, Dikman ZV. Interpersonal defensiveness and
diminished
perceptual acuity for the odor of a putative pheromone: Androstenone.
Biol
Psychol. 2007 Mar;74(3):405-13. PDF
Key
Issue: The pattern of associations with androstenone sensitivity is
sexually
dimorphic. Dislike for androstenone has been associated with
sensitivity to it
in women, but not in men . This suggests that the quality and degree of
perception of androstenone may manifest quite differently for women and
men.
The nature of these sex differences is poorly understood. Wyart
C,
Webster WW, Chen JH, Wilson SR, McClary A, Khan RM, Sobel N.
Smelling a
Single Component of Male Sweat Alters Levels of Cortisol in Women. J.
Neurosci.
2007 Feb; 27(6):1261-1265. Key Finding: Androstadienone exposure
influences
cortisol levels, mood, and sexual arousal in women. Porter
J, Craven B, Khan RM, Chang SJ, Kang I, Judkewicz B, Volpe J, Settles
G, Sobel
N. Mechanisms of scent-tracking in humans. Nat Neurosci. 2007
Jan;10(1):27-9. Quote: “Here we found that not only are humans capable
of the
demanding macrosmatic behavior of scent-tracking, but they
spontaneously mimic
the tracking patterns of macrosmatic mammals.” Haselton
MG, Mortezaie M, Pillsworth EG, Bleske-Rechek A, Frederick DA.
Ovulatory
shifts in human female ornamentation: Near ovulation, women dress to
impress.
Horm Behav. 2007 Jan;51(1):40-5. Quote: “…ovulatory cycle shifts in
female
sexual interests and male mate guarding are themselves dependent upon
contextual
cues, including characteristics of the partner. It is not at all
evident that
this adaptive information processing could be achieved by general
cognitive
abilities not structured or specialized to solve particular adaptive
problems
specific to mating…” Published
in 2006 Kohl, JV. The Mind's Eyes:
Human Pheromones,
Neuroscience, and Male Sexual Preferences. Journal of Psychology &
Human
Sexuality, 2006 Dec 18(4):313-369. Brennan
PA, Kendrick KM Mammalian social odours: attraction and individual
recognition. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B:
Biological
Sciences. 2006 Dec; 361(1476) 2061–2078. Quote: "Finally, although the
sense of smell is often relegated to a minor role in human social
communication, evidence is starting to accumulate that odours have not
lost the
ability to influence human behaviour. The extent to which social odours
play a
role in modern human society is an open but intriguing question for
future
research." Brennan
PA, Zufall F. Pheromonal communication in vertebrates. Nature. 2006
Nov
16;444(7117):308-15. Quote: "More problematic for advocates of the
existence of a human VNO are the consistent failure to find vomeronasal
nerves
projecting to the brain and the failure to find an AOB in adult
humans." Garver-Apgar
CE, Gangestad SW, Thornhill R, Miller RD, Olp JJ. Major
histocompatibility
complex alleles, sexual responsivity, and unfaithfulness in romantic
couples.
Psychol Sci. 2006 Oct;17(10):830-5. Quote: “…as MHC sharing increases,
women
report more extrapair partners (but only in the current relationship)
and
experience greater attraction to extrapair men relative to their
partners,
particularly on fertile days of their cycles. These effects may be
mediated by
scent,…” Rantala,
M.
J., Enksson, C. J. P., Vainikka, A. and Kortet, R. Male steroid
hormones and
female preference for male body odor. Evolution and Human Behavior.
2006;
27(4): 259-269. PDF
Quote:
“…cortisol or its interplay with other causal factors affecting male
scent may
shape the olfactory cues of mate selection in humans. Witt
M, Wozniak W. Structure and function of the vomeronasal organ. Adv
Otorhinolaryngol. 2006;63:70-83. Review. Quote: “… the most likely
binding
sites for human pheromone candidates are receptor cells within the
olfactory
epithelium.” Liberles
SD, Buck LB. A second class of chemosensory receptors in the
olfactory
epithelium. Nature. 2006 Aug 10;442(7103):645-50. Key Finding: Genes
that code
for receptors, called 'trace amine-associated receptors' are present in
human,
mouse and fish. These receptors, like other odor receptors are
expressed in
unique subsets of neurons dispersed in the olfactory epithelium. In
mice there
are at least three of these receptors. One receptor recognizes volatile
amines
found in urine. Another one detects a stress-related compound, and two
others
detect compounds that are found in different concentrations in male
versus
female urine. One of these compounds is reported to be a pheromone.
Collectively, these findings indicate that chemical signals that are
likely to
function as pheromones are processed by the main olfactory system of
mammals.
Accordingly, a human vomeronasal organ is not required. Ngai
J. Neuroscience: an extra dimension to olfaction. Nature. 2006 Aug
10;442(7103):637-8. (Comment on Liberles and Buck). Quote:
“Evolutionary
biologists, as well as physiologists and those studying animal
behaviour, will
be curious to find out how TAARs evolved for communication in other
vertebrate
species.” Wedekind
C, Seebeck T, Bettens F, Paepke AJ. The Intensity of Human Body
Odors and
the MHC: Should We Expect A Link? Evolutionary Psychology 2006 4:
85-94.
Quote: “…if we control for MHC-linked perception we find few
indications for a
possible link between body odor intensity and MHC specificity. It
appears that
MHC homozygotes produce body odors that are on average perceived as
more
intense than those of heterozygotes.” PDF
Matchock
RL, Susman EJ. Family composition and menarcheal age:
Anti-inbreeding strategies.
Am J Hum Biol. 2006 Jul-Aug;18(4):481-91.Quote: “We believe that, taken
together, a more parsimonious explanation of the data is that
pheromonal cues
modulate sexual maturity so as to enhance mating and prevent inbreeding
(Table
2). The father absence-early menarche finding is not just a human
anomaly that
can be forced into, and explained by, psychological theories. The
prevention of
inbreeding is so paramount to the successful propagation of healthy
genes that
anti-inbreeding behaviors and changes in reproductive physiology appear
to be
highly conserved across species. That is, parents suppress reproduction
of
their offspring.” Shepherd
GM. Behaviour: smells, brains and hormones. Nature. 2006 Jan
12;439(7073):149-51. Quote: "The traditional distinction that common
odours are perceived through the olfactory pathway and pheromones by
the
vomeronasal pathway is dead." Quote: "We have much more to learn
about how intimately neuroendocrine functions, controlled by
pheromones, acting
through our noses, interact with other operations within the brain to
control
human behaviour and cognition.” Pause
BM, Krauel K, Schrader C, Sojka B, Westphal E, Muller-Ruchholtz W,
Ferstl R.
The human brain is a detector of chemosensorily transmitted HLA-class
I-similarity in same- and opposite-sex relations. Proc Biol Sci. 2006
Feb
22;273(1585):471-8. Quote: “…HLA-related signals seem to be associated
to a
negative selection bias in mating behaviour. Moreover, HLA-associated
odour
signals from same-sex persons are processed differently in males and
females,
pointing to different behavioural functions in male-to-male
(competition) and
female-tofemale (communal behaviour) relations.” Leiblum
S, Brezsnyak M. Sexual chemistry: Theoretical elaboration and
clinical
implications. Sexual and Relationship Therapy. 2006 Feb; 21(1): 55 –
69. Quote:
“In a comprehensive review article, Kohl et al. (2001) summarize the
many
research studies highlighting the influence of odors on human
interaction and
attraction.” Prehn
A, Ohrt A, Sojka B, Ferstl R, Pause BM. Chemosensory anxiety
signals
augment the startle reflex in humans. Neurosci Lett. 2006 Feb
13;394(2):127-30.
Quote: “It has been suggested that the processing of chemosignals—the
oldest
phylogenetic receptive system shared by all organisms including
bacteria—serves
survival by generating appropriate behavioral responses to these
signals. In
line with this consideration, some authors assume that
approach-avoidance
reactions in animals, elicited by chemical cues, form the phylogenetic
basis
for the experience of emotions in humans.” Berglund
H, Lindstrom P, Savic I. Brain response to putative pheromones in
lesbian
women. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 May 23;103(21):8269-74. Quote:
"These data support our previous results about differentiated
processing
of pheromone-like stimuli in humans and further strengthen the notion
of a
coupling between hypothalamic neuronal circuits and sexual
preferences." Chen
D, Katdare A, Lucas N. Chemosignals of fear enhance cognitive
performance
in humans. Chem Senses. 2006 Jun;31(5):415-23. Havlıcek
J, Dvorakova R, Bartos L, Flegr J. Non-Advertized does not Mean
Concealed:
Body Odour Changes across the Human Menstrual Cycle. Ethology 112
(2006) 81–90.
PDF
Quote:
“Our results show that both the pleasantness and attractiveness ratings
given
to axillary odours were lowest during menstruation and peaked in the
follicular
phase when the probability of conception is highest.” Jacob
TJ, Wang L, Jaffer S, McPhee S. Changes in the odor quality of
androstadienone during exposure-induced sensitization. Chem Senses.
2006
Jan;31(1):3-8. Key Finding: Detection of androstadienone is experience
dependent. detection thresholds during repetitive exposure During
repetitive
exposure detection thresholds decrease. This sensitization is
accompanied by
perceptual odor quality changes. Published
in 2005 McClintock
MK, Bullivant S, Jacob S, Spencer N, Zelano B, Ober C. Human body
scents:
conscious perceptions and biological effects. Chem Senses. 2005 Jan;30
Suppl
1:i135-i137. Quote: “Some human compounds are experienced as conscious
odors,
e.g. recognized verbally and explicitly as odors with verbal
descriptors. Other
compounds have an odor, yet these olfactory properties are not required
for
them to function as pheromones, modulating hormonal and motivational
states. Hummel
T, Krone F, Lundstrom JN, Bartsch O. Androstadienone odor
thresholds in
adolescents. Horm Behav. 2005 Mar;47(3):306-10. Key finding:
Androstadienone
sensitivity decreases with puberty in males but not females. Savic
I, Berglund H, Lindstrom P. Brain response to putative
pheromones in
homosexual men. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 May 17;102(20):7356-61.
Quote:
"These findings show that our brain reacts differently to the two
putative
pheromones compared with common odors, and suggest a link between
sexual
orientation and hypothalamic neuronal processes." Ebster
C, Kirk-Smith, M. The effect of the human pheromone androstenol on
product
evaluation. Psychology and Marketing. 2005 22(9):739–749. Quote: “… a
putative
human pheromone can be used to enhance and change product perceptions
in a
gender-related direction. It remains to be seen if this can be used
commercially; however, the results of this experiment suggest that more
comprehensive studies would be worthwhile to explore the possible
marketing uses
of these human chemical signals. Martins
Y, Preti G, Crabtree CR, Runyan T, Vainius AA, Wysocki CJ.
Preference for
human body odors is influenced by gender and sexual orientation.
Psychol Sci.
2005 Sep;16(9):694-701. Quote: “…lesbians and gay males may produce an
array of
axillary odorants that distinguish them from heterosexuals.
Furthermore, gay
males may perceive these characteristic odorants differently than their
heterosexual counterparts do. Roberts
SC, Gosling LM, Spector TD, Miller P, Penn DJ, Petrie M. Body odor
similarity in noncohabiting twins. Chem Senses. 2005 Oct;30(8):651-6.
Quote:
“Our results indicate that odor similarity in pairs of twins can be
perceived
by the human nose.” Tokunaga
Y, Omoto Y, Sangu T, Miyazaki M, Kon R, Takada K Sexual
differentiation in sensitivity to male body odor. International Journal
of
Cosmetic Science. 2005 Dec;27(6):333-341. Quote: “Females evaluate
androstenone
itself as more unpleasant than males do, and furthermore, for only
females,
androstenone enhances the intensity and unpleasantness of other
body-odor
constituents such as short-chain fatty acids.” Lundstrom
JN, Olsson MJ. Subthreshold amounts of social odorant affect
mood,
but not behavior, in heterosexual women when tested by a male, but not
a
female, experimenter. Biol Psychol. 2005 Dec;70(3):197-204. KEY
FINDING:
exposure to a non-detectable amount of a putative human pheromone
modulated
women’s mood and psychophysiological arousal, but effects were only
evident when
an experimenter of the opposite sex was present during testing. This
suggests
that social context can modulate effects of putative human pheromone
exposure
in women. Havlicek
J, Roberts SC, Flegr J. (2005). Women’s preference for
dominant male
odour: effects of menstrual cycle and relationship status. Biol. Lett.
doi:10.1098/rsbl.2005.0332 PDF
Quote: “The
higher self-confidence of dominant males may also have an impact on the
perceived sexiness of their body odour.” Kohl,
JV
(2005) Human Pheromones, Neuroscience, and Male Homosexual Orientation.
International Behavioral Development Symposium. Minot, ND, Aug 3-6. FULL TEXT
available with
an introductory
article
in the Fall 2005/Winter 2006 issue of Entelechy: Mind and
Culture.
Published
in 2004 Jacob
S, Spencer NA, Bullivant SB, Sellergren SA, Mennella JA, McClintock MK.
Effects of breastfeeding chemosignals on the human menstrual cycle. Hum
Reprod.
2004 Feb;19(2):422-9. KEY FINDING: Because compounds from lactating
women and
their infants modulated the ovarian cycles of women, as is seen in
other
mammals, they have the potential to function as pheromones, regulating
fertility within groups of women." Pillsworth
EG, Haselton MG, Buss DM Ovulatory shifts in female sexual
desire. J Sex
Res.
2004 Feb;41(1):55-65. Key Finding: Women are more attracted to their
primary
partner at peak fertility within the cycle. Jacquot
L, Monnin J, Brand G. Unconscious odor detection could not be due
to odor
itself. Brain Res. 2004 Mar 26;1002(1-2):51-4. Quote: "These data
suggest
that unconscious odor detection as defined in the introduction (i.e.,
different
from the common sense experience that perceiving subjects are not
always aware
of the presence of stimuli in suprathreshold concentration, a
phenomenon
related to a decrease in attention) could not be due to the odorant,
but
probably to the trigeminal component of the nasal stimulus." Pierce
JD Jr, Cohen AB, Ulrich PM. Responsivity to two odorants,
androstenone and
amyl acetate, and the affective impact of odors on interpersonal
relationships. J Comp
Psychol. 2004 Mar;118(1):14-9. Quote: "In the present study, we found
that
responsivity to certain odors is associated with self-reports of the
role of
odors in influencing humans’ moods, social attractions, and individual
preferences." Cornwell
RE, Boothroyd L, Burt DM, Feinberg DR, Jones BC, Little AC, Pitman R,
Whiten S,
Perrett DI. Concordant preferences for opposite-sex signals? Human
pheromones and facial characteristics. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004
Mar
22;271(1539):635-40. KEY FINDING: "...putative sex pheromones and
sexually dimorphic facial characteristics convey common information
about the
quality of potential mates." Shepherd
GM The human sense of smell: are we better than we think? PLoS
Biol.
2004 May;2(5):E146. Epub 2004 May 11 Quote: “The factors reviewed here
suggest
that the sense of smell is more important in humans than is generally
realized,
which in turn suggests that it may have played a bigger role in the
evolution
of human diet, habitat, and social behavior than has been appreciated.”
Kovacs
G, Gulyas B, Savic I, Perrett DI, Cornwell RE, Little AC, Jones BC,
Burt DM,
Gal V, Vidnyanszky Z. Smelling human sex hormone-like compounds
affects
face gender judgment of men. Neuroreport. 2004 Jun
7;15(8):1275-7. KEY
FINDING: Odorous sex hormone-like steroids:
5-alpha-androgenst-16-en-3-one
(androgen) or oestra-1, 3, 5 (10), 16-tetraen-3-ol (estrogen) bias face
gender
discrimination. As a result of inhalation of androgen, men perceive
faces to be
more masculine as compared to when they are exposed to estrogen. Quote:
"Our results provide evidence for specific cross-sensory effects of the
gender-specific chemosensory cues on the categorization of visual face
gender."
Gulyas
B, Keri S, O'Sullivan BT, Decety J, Roland PE. The putative
pheromone
androstadienone activates cortical fields in the human brain related to
social
cognition. Neurochem Int. 2004 Jun;44(8):595-600. Quote: “…this is the
first
functional neuroimaging study showing that androstadienone, a putative
genderspecific human pheromone, activates inferior PFC and STP in the
human
brain when compared with pleasant and unpleasant non-pheromone odours.
These
activated brain areas are, by several other investigations, shown to be
heavily
involved in other than olfactory functions, including various aspects
of
attention, visual perception and recognition and social
cognition.” Bensafi
M, Brown WM, Khan R, Levenson B, Sobel N. Sniffing human
sex-steroid derived
compounds modulates mood, memory and autonomic nervous system function
in
specific behavioral contexts. Behav Brain Res. 2004 Jun 4;152(1):11-22.
Quote:
"These results suggest that sex-steroidal compounds modulate mood,
memory
and autonomic nervous system responses and increase their significance
within
specific behavioral contexts. These findings lend support to a specific
role
for these compounds in chemical communication between humans." Kuukasjärvi
S, Eriksson CJP, Koskela E, Mappes T, Nissinen K, Rantala MJ.
Attractiveness of women's body odors over the menstrual cycle: the role
of oral
contraceptives and receiver sex. Behavioral Ecology 2004 15: 579-584.
Quote:
“…our results support the view that the body odors of an ovulating
woman
increase her attractiveness to men.” Wilcox
AJ, Baird DD, Dunson DB, McConnaughey DR, Kesner JS, Weinberg CR.
On the
frequency of intercourse around ovulation: evidence for biological
influences.
Hum Reprod. 2004 Jul;19(7):1539-43. KEY FINDING: "There apparently are
biological factors that promote intercourse during a woman's 6 fertile
days." COMMENT: The most important biological factor in mammalian
female
copulation during the fertile period is olfaction/pheromones. Roberts
SC, Havlicek J, Flegr J, Hruskova M, Little AC, Jones BC, Perrett DI,
Petrie M.
Female facial attractiveness increases during the fertile phase of the
menstrual cycle. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2004 Aug 7;271 Suppl
5:S270-2. KEY FINDING: "This indicates the existence of visible
cues
to ovulation in the human face, and is consistent with similar cyclical
changes
observed for preferences of female body odour." Spencer
NA, McClintock MK, Sellergren SA, Bullivant S, Jacob S, Mennella JA.
Social
chemosignals from breastfeeding women increase sexual motivation. Horm
Behav.
2004 Sep;46(3):362-70. KEY FINDING: "...natural compounds collected
from
lactating women and their breastfeeding infants increased the sexual
motivation
of other women, measured as sexual desire and fantasies." No specific
compound was isolated. Olofsson
JK, Nordin S. Gender differences in chemosensory perception and
event-related potentials. Chem Senses. 2004 Sep;29(7):629-37. Quote:
“The
finding that women, compared to men, generated larger amplitudes and
shorter
latencies for the relatively exogenous P2/P3 component suggests that
the
observed perceptual gender differences predominantly have their origin
at a
relatively high level of neural processing. Pause
BM, Ohrt A, Prehn A, Ferstl R. Positive emotional priming of facial
affect
perception in females is diminished by chemosensory anxiety signals.
Chem
Senses. 2004 Nov;29(9):797-805. Quote: “… we conclude that the results
reported
here strongly indicated that anxiety in humans can be chemosensorily
communicated.” Herz
RS, Eliassen J, Beland S, Souza T. Neuroimaging evidence for the
emotional
potency of odor-evoked memory. Neuropsychologia. 2004;42(3):371-8. KEY
INDICATION "...the subjective experience of the emotional potency of
odor-evoked memory is correlated with specific activation in the
amygdala
during recall and offers new insights into the affective organization
of
memory. Kraft
P, Popaj K. Total Synthesis and Olfactory Evaluation of
5β,10-Dimethyl-des-A-18-norandrostan-13β-ol: A Potential Human
Pheromone? Eur.
J. Org. Chem. 2004, 4995-5002. Pause
BM. Is the human skin a pheromone-producing organ? J Cosmet
Dermatol. 2004
Dec;3(4):223-8. Quote: “It has been suggested that humans might have a
special
organ within their nose that can transmit such chemosensory
information.
However, the evidence for this organ is highly questionable. In any
case, the
main olfactory system is a highly diverse system, capable of
transmitting
pheromonal information." Published
in 2003 Roney
JR, Mahler SV, Maestripieri D. Behavioral and hormonal
responses of
men to brief interactions with women. Evol Hum Behav. 2003 24:365–375.
Quote:
“…the very existence of a causal nexus between courtship behaviors and
neuroendocrine mechanisms suggests the importance of future research on
the
hormonal correlates of courtship as a possible window onto the design
of human
mating mechanisms. Preti
G, Wysocki CJ, Barnhart KT, Sondheimer SJ, Leyden JJ. Male axillary
extracts contain pheromones that affect pulsatile secretion of
luteinizing
hormone and mood in women recipients. Biol Reprod. 2003
Jun;68(6):2107-13. Lundstrom
JN, Hummel T, Olsson MJ. Individual differences in sensitivity to
the odor
of 4,16-androstadien-3-one. Chem Senses. 2003 Sep;28(7):643-50. KEY
FINDING
Women tend to be more sensitive to the odor than men; "olfactory
sensitivity to androstadienone is bimodally distributed in the
population with
a subgroup consisting of highly sensitive people." Lundstrom
JN, Goncalves M, Esteves F, Olsson MJ. Psychological effects of
subthreshold exposure to the putative human pheromone
4,16-androstadien-3-one.
Horm Behav. 2003 Dec; 44(5): 395-401. Bensafi
M, Brown WM, Tsutsui T, Mainland JD, Johnson BN, Bremner EA, Young N,
Mauss I,
Ray B, Gross J, Richards J, Stappen I, Levenson RW, Sobel N. Sex-steroid
derived compounds induce sex-specific effects on autonomic nervous
system
function in humans. Behav Neurosci. 2003 Dec;117(6):1125-34. KEY
INDICATION
"...AND's opposite effects on physiology in men and women further
implicate this compound in chemical communication between humans." Knecht
M, Lundstrom JN, Witt M, Huttenbrink KB, Heilmann S, Hummel T. Assessment
of olfactory function and androstenone odor thresholds in humans with
or
without functional occlusion of the vomeronasal duct. Behav Neurosci.
2003 Dec;
117(6): 1135-41. KEY INDICATION: The human vomeronasal duct, and
therefore, the
human VNO does not play a major role in sensitivity toward odorants or
the
perception of a putative human pheromone. Published
before 2003 Thorne
F, Neave N, Scholey A, Moss M, Fink B. Effects of putative male
pheromones
on female ratings of male attractiveness: influence of oral
contraceptives and
the menstrual cycle. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2002 Aug;23(4):291-7.
Quote: “…the
results of this study once again demonstrate that male axillary
secretions
cause changes in females’ emotional evaluations.” Gangestad
SW, Thornhill R, Garver CE. Changes in women's sexual interests and
their
partners' mate-retention tactics across the menstrual cycle: evidence
for
shifting conflicts of interest. Proc Biol Sci. 2002 May
7;269(1494):975-82. KEY
FINDING: Men are able to perceive their partner's hormonal state, and
adjust
their behavior accordingly. Ackerl
K, Atzmueller M, Grammer K. The scent of fear. Neuro Endocrinol
Lett. 2002
Apr;23(2):79-84. KEY FINDING: Women are able to detect the scent of
fear. PDF.
Jacob
S, McClintock MK, Zelano B, Ober C. Paternally inherited HLA
alleles are
associated with women's choice of male odor. Nat Genet. 2002
Feb;30(2):175-9.
Quote: "Our data indicate that paternally inherited
HLA-associated
odors influence odor preference and may serve as social cues." Woodson
JC. Including 'learned sexuality' in the organization of sexual
behavior.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2002 Jan;26(1):69-80. Review. KEY CONCEPT:
"...learning from experience plays a critical role in the organization
of
sexual motivation and psychosexual differentiation...[and] ...
provide[s] an
essential link between biological predispositions and mature sexual
preferences..." Jacob
S, Hayreh DJ, McClintock MK. Context-dependent effects of steroid
chemosignals on human physiology and mood. Physiol Behav. 2001 Sep
1-15;74(1-2):15-27. KEY FINDING: Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
responsivity to
the human chemosignals D4,16-androstadien-3-one and
1,3,5,(10),16-estratetraen-3-ol is context dependent (e.g.) modulated
by the
presence of a man or woman. Savic
I, Berglund H, Gulyas B, Roland P. Smelling of odorous sex
hormone-like
compounds causes sex-differentiated hypothalamic activations in humans.
Neuron.
2001 Aug 30;31(4):661-8. KEY FINDING: Pheromones either from men or
from women
are processed in sexually dimorphic regions male and female brain. (see
also
Savic et al., 2005). Jacob
S, Kinnunen LH, Metz J, Cooper M, McClintock MK. Sustained human
chemosignal unconsciously alters brain function. Neuroreport. 2001 Aug
8;12(11):2391-4. Singh
D, Bronstad PM. Female body odour is a potential cue to ovulation. Shinohara
K, Morofushi M, Funabashi T, Kimura F. Axillary pheromones modulate
pulsatile LH secretion in humans. Neuroreport. 2001 Apr 17;12(5):893-5.
Schaefer
ML, Young DA, Restrepo D. Olfactory fingerprints for major
histocompatibility complex-determined body odors. J Neurosci. 2001 Apr
1;21(7):2481-7. Quote: “Recognition of individual body odors is
analogous to
human face recognition in that it provides information about identity.”
Chen
D, Haviland-Jones J. Human olfactory communication of emotion.
Percept Mot
Skills. 2000 Dec;91(3 Pt 1):771-81. KEY FINDING Nonhuman animals
communicate
their emotional states through changes in body odor. Information in
human body
odors also is indicative of emotional state. This finding introduces
new
complexity in how humans perceive and interact. Wedekind C,
Penn D.
MHC genes, body odours, and odour preferences. Rodriguez
I, Greer CA, Mok MY, Mombaerts P. A putative pheromone receptor
gene
expressed in human olfactory mucosa. Nat Genet. 2000 Sep;26(1):18-9. Morofushi
M, Shinohara K, Funabashi T, Kimura F. Positive relationship
between
menstrual synchrony and ability to smell
5alpha-androst-16-en-3alpha-ol. Chem
Senses. 2000 Aug;25(4):407-11. KEY FINDING: Women whose menstrual
cycles
synchronized with room-mates had higher olfactory acuity for
androstenol. Shinohara
K, Morofushi M, Funabashi T, Mitsushima D, Kimura F. Effects of
5alpha-androst-16-en-3alpha-ol on the pulsatile secretion of
luteinizing
hormone in human females. Chem Senses. 2000 Aug;25(4):465-7. KEY
FINDING:
"androstenol retards the growth and maturation of ovarian follicles and
consequently delays the timing of ovulation." Grosser
BI, Monti-Bloch L, Jennings-White C, Berliner DL. Behavioral and
electrophysiological effects of androstadienone, a human pheromone. Jacob
S, McClintock MK. Psychological state and mood effects of steroidal
chemosignals in women and men. Horm Behav. 2000 Feb;37(1):57-78. KEY
FINDING:
Putative human pheromones are " psychologically potent, mandating
future
work delineating their function - i.e., whether these steroids are
communicative chemosignals, context specific, or related to unconscious
associations." Barni
T, Maggi M, Fantoni G, Granchi S, Mancina R, Gulisano M, Marra F,
Macorsini E,
Luconi M, Rotella C, Serio M, Balboni GC, Vannelli GB. Sex steroids
and
odorants modulate gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion in primary
cultures
of human olfactory cells. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1999
Nov;84(11):4266-73.
Quote: “This is the first report on GnRH production in human olfactory
cells
exposed to a selective odorant. The regulation of GnRH expression by
sex
steroids and odorants can help elucidate the complex neuroendocrine
network
that controls human reproductive behavior.” Sobel
N, Prabhakaran V, Hartley CA, Desmond JE, Glover GH, Sullivan EV,
Gabrieli JD.
Blind smell: brain activation induced by an undetected air-borne
chemical.
Brain. 1999 Feb;122 ( Pt 2):209-17. Quote: "These findings localize
human
brain activation that was induced by an undetectable air-borne chemical
(the
low concentration compound).” Thornhill, R &
Gangestad, SW
The Scent of Symmetry: A Human Sex Pheromone that Signals Fitness?
Evolution
and Human Behavior. 1999 20, 175-201. Porter
RH, Winberg J. Unique salience of maternal breast odors for newborn
infants. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1999;23(3):439-49. Review. Quote:
"Early
odor-based recognition may be an important factor in the development of
the
infant-mother bond.” Gangestad
SW, Thornhill R. Menstrual cycle variation in women's preferences
for the
scent of symmetrical men. Proc Biol Sci. 1998 May 22;265(1399):927-33.
KEY
FINDING: Women use olfactory cues as honest signals about certain
qualities of
men, especially when conception is possible. Stern
K, McClintock MK. Regulation of ovulation by human pheromones. Winberg
J, Porter RH. Olfaction and human neonatal behaviour: clinical
implications. Acta Paediatr. 1998 Jan;87(1):6-10. Review. Quote: "New
knowledge about human odour physiology may have diagnostic and
therapeutic
implications…" Grammer
K, Jutte A. [Battle of odors: significance of pheromones for human
reproduction] Gynakol Geburtshilfliche Rundsch. 1997;37(3):150-3.
Review.
German. KEY CONCEPT: Female pheromones (copulins), which are present in
vaginal
secretions, influence male perception of females and may induce
hormonal
changes in males. Ober
C, Weitkamp LR, Cox N, Dytch H, Kostyu D, Elias S. HLA and mate
choice in
humans. Am J Hum Genet. 1997 Sep;61(3):497-504. Quote:
"These
results are consistent with the conclusion that Hutterite mate choice
is
influenced by HLA haplotypes, with an avoidance of spouses with
haplotypes that
are the same as one's own." Diamond
M, Binstock T, Kohl JV. From fertilization to adult sexual
behavior:
Nonhormonal Influences on sexual behavior. Horm Behav. 1996
Dec;30(4):333-53. Kohl,
JV.
Human pheromones: Mammalian olfactory, genetic, neuronal, hormonal and
behavioral reciprocity, and human sexuality. Advances in Human Behavior
and
Evolution. 1996. Wedekind
C, Seebeck T, Bettens F, Paepke AJ. MHC-dependent mate preferences
in
humans. Proc Biol Sci. 1995 Jun 22;260(1359):245-9. Fan
W, Liu YC, Parimoo S, Weissman SM. Olfactory receptor-like genes
are
located in the human major histocompatibility complex. Genomics. 1995
May
1;27(1):119-23. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In
other
mammals, pheromones influence the onset of puberty, and are also
important in
establishing nurturing behavior. These articles, despite no significant
mention
of pheromones, strongly suggest that human pheromones influence the
onset of
puberty: Ellis
BJ, Garber J. Psychosocial antecedents of variation in girls'
pubertal
timing: maternal depression, stepfather presence, and marital and
family
stress. Child Dev. 2000 Mar-Apr;71(2):485-501. Quote: "Stepfather
presence,
rather than biological father absence, best accounted for earlier
pubertal
maturation in girls living apart from their biological fathers." Ellis
BJ, McFadyen-Ketchum S, Dodge KA, Pettit GS, Bates JE. Quality of
early
family relationships and individual differences in the timing of
pubertal
maturation in girls: a longitudinal test of an evolutionary model. J
Pers Soc
Psychol. 1999 Aug;77(2):387-401. Quote: "In total, the quality of
fathers'
investment in the family emerged as the most important feature of the
proximal
family environment relative to daughters' pubertal timing." Gray
PB, Yang CF, Pope HG Jr. Fathers have lower salivary testosterone
levels
than unmarried men and married non-fathers in Beijing, China. Proc Biol
Sci.
2006 Feb 7;273(1584):333-9. Gray
PB, Campbell BC, Marlowe FW, Lipson SF, Ellison PT. Social
variables
predict between-subject but not day-to-day variation in the
testosterone of US
men. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2004 Oct;29(9):1153-62. KEY FINDING:
Married men
had lower evening T levels than unmarried men. Storey
AE, Walsh CJ, Quinton RL, Wynne-Edwards KE. Hormonal correlates of
paternal
responsiveness in new and expectant fathers. Evol Hum Behav. 2000 Mar
1;21(2):79-95. KEY FINDING: Testosterone levels in men decreased as
pregnancy
in their mate progressed. "This pattern of hormonal change in men
suggests
that hormones may play a role in priming males to provide care for
young."
______________________________________________________________
Recent
mammalian studies supporting the likelihood that olfactory input
conditions our
visual response. Published
in 2006 Coureaud
G, Moncomble AS, Montigny D, Dewas M, Perrier G, Schaal B. A
Pheromone That
Rapidly Promotes Learning in the Newborn. Curr Biol. 2006 Oct
10;16(19):1956-1961. Key Issue: The unconscious affect of a rabbit
pheromone
can act either as a reinforcing agent, or a one-trial conditioning
agent.
Reinforcement of the most likely hormone response (e.g., a downstream
effect of
gonadotropin-releasing hormone) could occur when the pheromone converts
an
associated secondary odor into a conditioned stimulus. Extension to
humans of
this mammalian model indicates that either maternal natural body odor,
or the
body odor of other people, may become a conditioned stimulus that
evokes a
behavioral response, even in the absence of the pheromone during
subsequent
encounters. This suggests that a single exposure to a pheromone may
elicit
powerful long-term behavioral affects. Gelez
H, Fabre-Nys C. Role of the olfactory systems and importance of
learning in
the ewes' response to rams or their odors. Reprod Nutr Dev. 2006
Jul-Aug;46(4):401-15. Quote: “ Our findings support the idea that
processes of
olfactory cues detected by the main olfactory system can involve
cognitive or
learning mechanisms. The response to the ram odor does not correspond
to
preprogrammed or reflex responses, but rather responses to a stimulus
that had
acquired a meaning. Alekseyenko
OV, Baum MJ, Cherry JA. Sex and gonadal steroid modulation of
pheromone
receptor gene expression in the mouse vomeronasal organ. Neuroscience.
2006 Jul
18;140(4):1349-57. Baxi
KN, Dorries KM, Eisthen HL. Is the vomeronasal system really
specialized
for detecting pheromones? Trends Neurosci. 2006 Jan;29(1):1-7. Spehr
M, Kelliher KR, Li XH, Boehm T, Leinders-Zufall T, Zufall F.
Essential role
of the main olfactory system in social recognition of major
histocompatibility
complex peptide ligands. J Neurosci. 2006 Feb 15;26(7):1961-70. Quote:
“Our
finding that MHC peptide ligands can gain access to and be recognized
by
sensory neurons of the MOE will prompt further investigations aimed at
understanding whether evolutionary conserved MHC peptide ligands also
function
as odor signals in humans.” Laska
M, Wieser A, Salazar LT. Sex-specific differences in olfactory
sensitivity
for putative human pheromones in nonhuman primates. J Comp Psychol.
2006
May;120(2):106-12. Quote: "...—at least within the order of
primates—allometric comparisons of olfactory brain structures or
differences in
the number of functional olfactory receptor genes do not allow us to
draw
generalizing conclusions as to olfactory sensitivity of any two
species." Kaminski
RM, Marini H, Ortinski PI, Vicini S, Rogawski MA. The pheromone
androstenol
(5 alpha-androst-16-en-3 alpha-ol) is a neurosteroid positive modulator
of
GABAA receptors. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2006 May;317(2):694-703. Quote:
"Androstenol and androstenone are among the best-accepted mammalian
pheromones (Grammer et al., 2005). The present results raise the
possibility
that effects on GABAA receptors could contribute to their pheromonal
activity." Spehr
M, Spehr J, Ukhanov K, Kelliher KR, Leinders-Zufall T, Zufall F. Keller
M, Douhard Q, Baum MJ, Bakker J. Destruction of the main olfactory
epithelium
reduces female sexual behavior and olfactory investigation in female
mice. Chem
Senses. 2006 May;31(4):315-23. KEY FINDING: The main olfactory
epithelium is
primarily involved in the detection and processing of odors that are
used to
localize and identify the sex and hormone status of conspecifics.
Gelez
H, Fabre-Nys C. Neural pathways involved in the endocrine response
of
anestrous ewes to the male or its odor. Neuroscience.
2006;140(3):791-800.
Quote: The demonstration of the role of the main olfactory system, the
role of
sexual experience, and the importance of other sensory cues other than
olfaction in the ‘‘male effect’’ support the idea that the endocrine
response
elicited by the ram or its odor does not involve basic mechanisms
corresponding
to reflex or automatic responses, but rather elaborate treatment
integration of
olfactory or other sensory cues and resulting behavioral changes and
learning
processes. Published
in 2005 Roth
TL, Sullivan RM. Memory of early maltreatment: neonatal behavioral
and
neural correlates of maternal maltreatment within the context of
classical
conditioning. Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Apr 15;57(8):823-31. Quote:
"RESULTS:
Odor-maternal maltreatment pairings within a seminatural setting and
odor-shock
pairings both resulted in paradoxical odor preferences.
Learning-induced gene
expression was altered in the olfactory bulb and anterior piriform
cortex (part
of olfactory cortex) but not the amygdala. CONCLUSIONS: Infants appear
to use a
unique brain circuit that optimizes learned odor preferences necessary
for
attachment." Coria-Avila
GA, Ouimet AJ, Pacheco P, Manzo J, Pfaus JG. Olfactory conditioned
partner
preference in the female rat. Behav Neurosci. 2005 Jun;119(3):716-25.
Quote:" An odor paired with the ability of females to Yoon
H, Enquist LW, Dulac C. Olfactory inputs to hypothalamic neurons
controlling reproduction and fertility. Cell. 2005 Nov
18;123(4):669-82. KEY
FINDING: There is a lack of anatomical and functional connection
between VNO
and the central regulators of mammalian reproduction: the GnRH neurons.
There
is a direct link these GnRH neurons and the olfactory and somatosensory
pathways that play an essential role in reproductive behavior and in
the
modulation of GnRH neuronal activity. Boehm
U, Zou Z, Buck LB. Feedback loops link odor and pheromone signaling
with
reproduction. Cell. 2005 Nov 18;123(4):683-95. Abstract excerpt::
“…approximately 800 GnRH neurons communicate with approximately 50,000
neurons
in 53 functionally diverse brain areas, with some connections
exhibiting sexual
dimorphism. These studies reveal a complex interplay between
reproduction and
other functions in which GnRH neurons appear to integrate information
from
multiple sources and modulate a variety of brain functions.” Published
in 2004 Roselli
CE, Larkin K, Resko JA, Stellflug JN, Stormshak F. The volume of a
sexually
dimorphic nucleus in the ovine medial preoptic area/anterior
hypothalamus
varies with sexual partner preference. Endocrinology. 2004 Feb; 145(2):
478-83.
KEY INDICATION: A mammalian model linking pheromones and olfaction to
neuroanatomy and neuroendocrinology may extend to encompass aspects of
human
sexual orientation. Reyes
R, Mendoza J, Ballesteros J, Moffatt C. Male chemosignals inhibit
the neural
responses of male mice to female chemosignals. Brain Res Bull. 2004 May
30;63(4):301-8. KEY FINDING: "...male urine inhibited the responses of
cells within the MOS and AOS to female urine." Meredith
M, Westberry JM. Distinctive responses in the medial amygdala to
same-species and different-species pheromones. J Neurosci. 2004 Jun
23;24(25):5719-25. "This is the first evidence for an important role of
the amygdala, a limbic structure known to be involved in social and
emotional
behavior, in discrimination of species specificity in chemosignals." Richardson
HN, Nelson AL, Ahmed EI, Parfitt DB, Romeo RD, Sisk CL. Gelez
H, Archer E, Chesneau D, Campan R, Fabre-Nys C. Importance of
learning in
the response of ewes to male odor. Chem Senses. 2004 Sep;29(7):555-63.
KEY
ISSUES: Ram exposure activates the LH response in ewes; sexual
experience is a
factor. After pairing lavendar scent with ram exposure; the lavendar
scent
activated the LH response in ewes. Simply put, ewes can learn to
associate an
arbitrary odor with the affect of pheromones on their level of LH. Gelez
H, Fabre-Nys C. The "male effect" in sheep and goats: a review of
the respective roles of the two olfactory systems. Horm Behav. 2004
Sep;46(3):257-71. Review. KEY FINDING: The VNO is not required for rams
to
elicit an LH response from ewes. Published
before 2004 Westberry
J, Meredith M. The influence of chemosensory input and gonadotropin
releasing hormone on mating behavior circuits in male hamsters. Brain
Res. 2003
Jun 6;974(1-2):1-16. KEY FINDING "...the combination of pheromone
exposure
and intracerebrally-injected GnRH increases Fos expression in the MPOA
above
the increase seen in pheromone-exposed males, or in males given only
the
exogenous GnRH. In males with vomeronasal organs removed (VNX), there
was an
also an increment in Fos expression in the MPOA when these pheromone
exposed
males were injected with GnRH, provided they had previous sexual
experience.
Males with vomeronasal organs removed and without sexual experience
showed
increased Fos expression in the medial amygdala when pheromone exposure
and
GnRH injection were combined, but not in the medial preoptic area." Westberry
JM, Meredith M. Pre-exposure to female chemosignals or
intracerebral GnRH
restores mating behavior in naive male hamsters with vomeronasal organ
lesions.
Chem Senses. 2003 Mar;28(3):191-6. RATIONALE: Hamster vaginal
fluid
and intracerebroventricular injections of GnRH eliminate mating
deficits
normally seen in naive male hamsters with vomeronasal organs removed.
KEY
FINDING: The action of female pheromones on GnRH is the
most likely
link to restoration of naive males who have had their vomeronasal
organs
removed. Dulac
C, Torello AT. Molecular detection of pheromone signals in mammals:
from
genes to behaviour. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2003 Jul;4(7):551-62. Review.
Quote:
…pheromones seem to act not as simple releasers of mating or aggressive
behaviours, but rather as essential regulators of inputs from other
sensory
organs… Roselli
CE, Resko JA, Stormshak F. Estrogen synthesis in fetal sheep
brain:
effect of maternal treatment with an aromatase inhibitor. Biol Reprod.
2003
Feb; 68(2): 370-4. KEY INDICATION: Aromatase activity might be linked
to estradiol
receptor content in the amygdala (an olfactory processing center) which
varies
with sexual orientation in rams. This fits well with what is known
about sexual
differentiation of the mammalian olfactory system(s). Schaefer
ML, Yamazaki K, Osada K, Restrepo D, Beauchamp GK. Olfactory
fingerprints
for major histocompatibility complex-determined body odors II:
relationship
among odor maps, genetics, odor composition, and behavior. J Neurosci.
2002 Nov
1;22(21):9513-21. Quote: “…modification of a single gene… of the major
histocompatibility locus… results in a subtle change in the odiferous
quality of
urine, causes a small but significant change in the composition of
urine
volatiles and consequently the evoked glomerular activation pattern in
the MOB.
[This change]… is predictive of the extent of (1) the genetic
difference among
the urine donors, (2) the difference in the chemical composition of
urine, and
(3) the odor detector's ability to discriminate…individual
recognition.” Del
Punta K, Leinders-Zufall T, Rodriguez I, Jukam D, Wysocki CJ, Ogawa S,
Zufall
F, Mombaerts P. Deficient pheromone responses in mice lacking a
cluster of
vomeronasal receptor genes. Nature. 2002 Sep 5;419(6902):70-4. Moncho-Bogani
J, Lanuza E, Hernandez A, Novejarque A, Martinez-Garcia F.
Attractive
properties of sexual pheromones in mice: innate or learned? Physiol
Behav. 2002
Sep;77(1):167-76. KEY INDICATION Pavlovian-like associative
learning
(i.e., classical conditioning) in which previously neutral volatiles
(very
likely odorants) acquire attractive properties by association with the
nonvolatile, innately attractive pheromone(s) is the likely basis for
not only
the sexual but also the 'chemical' experience (previous experience with
sexual
pheromones), which must be taken into account to interpret the role of
chemicals as releaser or primer pheromones. Takami
S. Recent progress in the neurobiology of the vomeronasal organ. Beckman
M. Pheromone reception. When in doubt, mice mate rather than hate.
Science.
2002 Feb 1;295(5556):782. Kendrick
KM, Haupt MA, Hinton MR, Broad KD, Skinner JD. Sex differences in
the
influence of mothers on the sociosexual preferences of their offspring.
Horm
Behav. 2001 Sep;40(2):322-38. Kelliher
KR, Baum MJ. Nares occlusion eliminates heterosexual partner
selection
without disrupting coitus in ferrets of both sexes. J Neurosci. 2001
Aug
1;21(15):5832-40. Johnson
BN, Mainland JD, Sobel N. Rapid olfactory processing implicates
subcortical
control of an olfactomotor system. J Neurophysiol. 2003
Aug;90(2):1084-94. KEY
INDICATION The time course of sniffing appears to be more rapid than a
response
that requires cortical control. "Considering that odorant transduction
takes around 150 ms and odorant-induced cortical evoked potentials have
latencies of around 300 ms, the rapid motor adjustments measured here
suggest
that olfactomotor sniff feedback control is subcortical and may rely on
neural
mechanisms similar to those that modulate eye movements to accommodate
vision
and ear movements to accommodate audition." Kippin
TE, Pfaus JG. The nature of the conditioned response mediating
olfactory
conditioned ejaculatory preference in the male rat. Behav Brain Res.
2001
Jul;122(1):11-24. Brennan
PA, Schellinck HM, de la Riva C, Kendrick KM, Keverne EB. Katz
LS, Price EO, Wallach SJ, Zenchak JJ. McClintock
MK. On the nature of mammalian and human pheromones. Johnston
RE. Pheromones, the vomeronasal system, and communication.
From
hormonal responses to individual recognition. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998
Nov
30;855:333-48. Review. Quote: "In sum, it is important to maintain a
broad, balanced view and to avoid oversimplifications if we are to
advance our
understanding of the sensory mechanisms underlying responses to
chemical
signals and other odors." Meredith
M. Vomeronasal, olfactory, hormonal convergence in the brain.
Cooperation
or coincidence? Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998 Nov 30;855:349-61. Review.
Quote:
"Despite evidence [in hamsters] that the release of LHRH in response to
female chemosignals is dependent on vomeronasal input, no activation of
LHRH
neurons has been demonstrated in males exposed to such chemosignals." Wood
RI. Integration of chemosensory and hormonal input in the male
Syrian
hamster brain. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998 Nov 30;855:362-72. Review. Quote:
"According to our current model, hormones may act as a gating signal to
strengthen synaptic contacts along the chemosensory pathway, thereby
permitting
or enhancing transmission of chemosensory cues." Monti-Bloch
L, Jennings-White C, Berliner DL. The human vomeronasal system. A
review.Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998 Nov 30;855:373-89. Review. Quote: "These
findings present new information supportive of a functional vomeronasal
system
in adult humans." Review
articles Baum
MJ. Mammalian animal models of psychosexual differentiation: When
is
'translation' to the human situation possible? Horm Behav. 2006 Nov
50(4):579-88. Review. Quote: “…nearly all of the non-primate animals
typically
studied in the laboratory rely on body odors as important, if not sole,
determinants of heterosexual partner selection…”, “If olfactory cues
are the
critical determinants of ferrets' sex partner preference, it stands to
reason
that sex differences in the detection and processing of odors from
conspecifics
may underlie sex differences in partner preference.” Grammer
K, Fink B, Neave N. Human pheromones and sexual attraction. Stowers
L, Marton TF. What is a pheromone? Mammalian pheromones
reconsidered.
Neuron. 2005 Jun 2;46(5):699-702. Review. Wysocki
CJ, Preti G. Facts, fallacies, fears, and frustrations with human
pheromones. Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2004
Nov;281(1):1201-11.
Review. Pause
BM. Are androgen steroids acting as pheromones in humans? Physiol
Behav.
2004 Oct 30;83(1):21-9. Review. Brennan
PA, Keverne EB. Something in the air? New insights into mammalian
pheromones. Curr Biol. 2004 Jan 20;14(2):R81-9. Review. Kohl
JV, Atzmueller M, Fink B, Grammer K. Human pheromones: integrating
neuroendocrinology and ethology. Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2001
Oct;22(5):309-21.
Review. PDF Keverne
EB. Pheromones, vomeronasal function, and gender-specific behavior.
Cell.
2002 Mar 22; 108(6): 735-8. Review Savic
I. Imaging of brain activation by odorants in humans. Curr Opin
Neurobiol.
2002 Aug;12(4):455-61. Review. Sobel
N, Brown WM. The scented brain: pheromonal responses in humans.
Neuron.
2001 Aug 30;31(4):512-4. Review. Books
and book reviews Burger
BV
Mammalian Semiochemicals In: The
Chemistry of
Pheromones and Other Semiochemicals II 2005 Springer: Berlin
/
Heidelberg pp. 231-278. Quote: “…the concerted attempts of scientists
over the
past few decades to unravel the semiochemical communication of mice and
especially the work on the MUPs of these animals, could well serve as
an
excellent example of how this type of research should be approached and
of the
benefits that can be reaped from interdisciplinary collaboration.
Understandably, there is a lot of general and also commercial interest
in
research aimed at the identification and evaluation of human
pheromones. In as
much as humans can motivate their responses to test compounds, it
should be
simpler to work with humans than with other mammals.” Wyatt,
TD.
(2003) Pheromones
and Animal Behaviour: Communication by Smell and Taste. Book
review: by James
V. Kohl,
Stone Independent Research. Burr,
C.
(2003) The
Emperor of Scent: A Story of Perfume, Obsession and the Last Mystery of
the
Senses. Book
review: by James
V. Kohl,
Independent researcher Kohl,
JV,
Francoeur RT. (1995; 2002) The
Scent of Eros: Mysteries of Odor in Human Sexuality. Book
reviews: 1. by Mark Sergeant,
Psychology
Division, The 2. by Ralph
Underwager, Institute for Psychological Therapies. 3. by Jan Peregrine,
Debunked
studies Monti-Bloch
L, Diaz-Sanchez V, Jennings-White C, Berliner DL. Modulation of
serum
testosterone and autonomic function through stimulation of the male
human
vomeronasal organ (VNO) with pregna-4,20-diene-3,6-dione. J Steroid
Biochem Mol
Biol. 1998 Apr;65(1-6):237-42. KEY FINDING: Humans have a functional
VNO and
respond to pheromones with hormonal change. Berliner
DL, Monti-Bloch L, Jennings-White C, Diaz-Sanchez V. The
functionality of
the human vomeronasal organ (VNO): evidence for steroid receptors. J
Steroid
Biochem Mol Biol. 1996 Jun;58(3):259-65. KEY FINDING: existence of a
human
vomeronasal-hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal system. Monti-Bloch
L, Jennings-White C, Dolberg DS, Berliner DL. The human vomeronasal
system.
Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1994;19(5-7):673-86. |