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Scheller M, de Sousa AA, Brotto LA, Little AC. The Role of Sexual and Romantic Attraction in Human Mate Preferences. JOURNAL OF SEX RESEARCH 2024; 61:299-312. [PMID: 36795115 DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2023.2176811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Sex differences in mate preferences are ubiquitous, having been evidenced across generations and cultures. Their prevalence and persistence have compellingly placed them in the evolutionarily adaptive context of sexual selection. However, the psycho-biological mechanisms contributing to their generation and maintenance remain poorly understood. As such a mechanism, sexual attraction is assumed to guide interest, desire, and the affinity toward specific partner features. However, whether sexual attraction can indeed explain sex differences in partner preferences has not been explicitly tested. To better understand how sex and sexual attraction shape mate preferences in humans we assessed how partner preferences differed across the spectrum of sexual attraction in a sample of 479 individuals that identified as asexual, gray-sexual, demisexual or allosexual. We further tested whether romantic attraction predicted preference profiles better than sexual attraction. Our results show that sexual attraction accounts for highly replicable sex differences in mate preferences for high social status and financial prospects, conscientiousness, and intelligence; however, it does not account for the enhanced preference for physical attractiveness expressed by men, which persists even in individuals with low sexual attraction. Instead, sex differences in physical attractiveness preference are better explained by the degree of romantic attraction. Furthermore, effects of sexual attraction on sex differences in partner preferences were grounded in current rather than previous experiences of sexual attraction. Taken together, the results support the idea that contemporary sex differences in partner preferences are maintained by several psycho-biological mechanisms that evolved in conjunction, including not only sexual but also romantic attraction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meike Scheller
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath
- Department of Psychology, Durham University
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen
| | | | - Lori A Brotto
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of British Columbia
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Møller P, Köster EP. Why human olfaction should not be modeled on theories and tasks of vision. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1244480. [PMID: 37829060 PMCID: PMC10565516 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1244480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
In this paper we analyze some key concepts and problems in olfaction and argue that many concepts borrowed from vision are not helpful in elucidating the functions of human olfaction. This is illustrated with several examples. Olfaction is rarely in the focus of human attention. Olfaction is, compared to vision, a 'hidden sense', but still guides many important behaviors by way of unattended unconscious olfactory perception and implicit memory. Not all olfactory processing, however, is of an unconscious nature. Flavors, and the pleasures gained from them, are most often consciously perceived. These are experiences mostly determined by olfaction, taste, touch and chemesthesis. Our analyses lead us to conclude that olfaction should not be modeled on vision, neither conceptually nor with respect to the problems solved by the two senses. A critical examination of the ecological and physical constraints of olfaction and the other senses should be given priority. Such analyses will further our understanding of which problems are solved by the different senses and how they collaborate to guide us through the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Per Møller
- Per Møller Consulting, Bagsværd, Denmark
| | - Egon P. Köster
- Helmholtz Institute, University of Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands
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Schumann K, Rodriguez-Raecke R, Sijben R, Freiherr J. Elevated Insulin Levels Engage the Salience Network during Multisensory Perception. Neuroendocrinology 2023; 114:90-106. [PMID: 37634508 DOI: 10.1159/000533663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Brain insulin reactivity has been reported in connection with systematic energy metabolism, enhancement in cognition, olfactory sensitivity, and neuroendocrine circuits. High receptor densities exist in regions important for sensory processing. The main aim of the study was to examine whether intranasal insulin would modulate the activity of areas in charge of olfactory-visual integration. METHODS As approach, a placebo-controlled double-blind within crossover design was chosen. The experiments were conducted in a research unit of a university hospital. On separate mornings, twenty-six healthy normal-weight males aged between 19 and 31 years received either 40 IU intranasal insulin or placebo vehicle. Subsequently, they underwent 65 min of functional magnetic resonance imaging whilst performing an odor identification task. Functional brain activations of olfactory, visual, and multisensory integration as well as insulin versus placebo were assessed. Regarding the odor identification task, reaction time, accuracy, pleasantness, and intensity measurements were taken to examine the role of integration and treatment. Blood samples were drawn to control for peripheral hormone concentrations. RESULTS Intranasal insulin administration during olfactory-visual stimulation revealed strong bilateral engagement of frontoinsular cortices, anterior cingulate, prefrontal cortex, mediodorsal thalamus, striatal, and hippocampal regions (p ≤ 0.001 familywise error [FWE] corrected). In addition, the integration contrast showed increased activity in left intraparietal sulcus, left inferior frontal gyrus, left superior frontal gyrus, and left middle frontal gyrus (p ≤ 0.013 FWE corrected). CONCLUSIONS Intranasal insulin application in lean men led to enhanced activation in multisensory olfactory-visual integration sites and salience hubs which indicates stimuli valuation modulation. This effect can serve as a basis for understanding the connection of intracerebral insulin and olfactory-visual processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katja Schumann
- Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Rea Rodriguez-Raecke
- Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Brain Imaging Facility, Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Rik Sijben
- Brain Imaging Facility, Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Jessica Freiherr
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Freising, Germany
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Schicker D, Singh S, Freiherr J, Grasskamp AT. OWSum: algorithmic odor prediction and insight into structure-odor relationships. J Cheminform 2023; 15:51. [PMID: 37150811 PMCID: PMC10164323 DOI: 10.1186/s13321-023-00722-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
We derived and implemented a linear classification algorithm for the prediction of a molecule's odor, called Olfactory Weighted Sum (OWSum). Our approach relies solely on structural patterns of the molecules as features for algorithmic treatment and uses conditional probabilities combined with tf-idf values. In addition to the prediction of molecular odor, OWSum provides insights into properties of the dataset and allows to understand how algorithmic classifications are reached by quantitatively assigning structural patterns to odors. This provides chemists with an intuitive understanding of underlying interactions. To deal with ambiguities of the natural language used to describe odor, we introduced descriptor overlap as a metric for the quantification of semantic overlap between descriptors. Thus, grouping of descriptors and derivation of higher-level descriptors becomes possible. Our approach poses a large leap forward in our capabilities to understand and predict molecular features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doris Schicker
- Sensory Analytics and Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354, Freising, Germany.
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
| | - Satnam Singh
- Sensory Analytics and Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354, Freising, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Jessica Freiherr
- Sensory Analytics and Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354, Freising, Germany
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Andreas T Grasskamp
- Sensory Analytics and Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Giggenhauser Straße 35, 85354, Freising, Germany.
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Roberts K, Havlíček J, Kaňková Š, Klapilová K, Roberts SC. Testing effects of partner support and use of oral contraception during relationship formation on severity of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2023; 23:175. [PMID: 36918818 PMCID: PMC10012454 DOI: 10.1186/s12884-023-05468-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND A recent study focusing on dietary predictors of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) found that women with higher levels of partner support, and those who had used oral contraception (OC) when they met the father, both tended to report less severe NVP compared with previous non-users or those with less supportive partners. We provide a further test of these factors, using a large sample of women from four countries who retrospectively scored their NVP experience during their first pregnancy. METHODS We recruited women who had at least one child to participate in a retrospective online survey. In total 2321 women completed our questionnaire including items on demographics, hormonal contraception, NVP, and partner support. We used general linear models and path analysis to analyse our data. RESULTS Women who had used OC when they met the father of their first child tended to report lower levels of NVP, but the effect size was small and did not survive adding the participant's country to the model. There was no relationship between NVP and partner support in couples who were still together, but there was a significant effect among those couples that had since separated: women whose ex-partner had been relatively supportive reported less severe NVP. Additional analyses showed that women who were older during their first pregnancy reported less severe NVP, and there were also robust differences between countries. CONCLUSIONS These results provide further evidence for multiple influences on women's experience of NVP symptoms, including levels of perceived partner support.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kateřina Roberts
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Havlíček
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Šárka Kaňková
- Department of Philosophy and History of Science, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Kateřina Klapilová
- Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.,National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
| | - S Craig Roberts
- Department of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK.
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Do humans agree on which body odors are attractive, similar to the agreement observed when rating faces and voices? EVOL HUM BEHAV 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2023.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
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Fieder M, Huber S. Facial attractiveness is only weakly linked to genome-wide heterozygosity. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1009962. [PMID: 37151335 PMCID: PMC10157054 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1009962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction It has been frequently suggested that overall genomic heterozygosity and, particularly, heterozygosity of loci on the so-called major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which is responsible for the recognition of foreign substances/ pathogens and the recognition of self and non-self, is associated with better health and better resistance to infections and parasites. It has further been speculated that such a potentially beneficial heterozygosity can be detected through body odor and facial attractiveness. Methods On the basis of genome wide SNP data (713,014 SNPs) of participants from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we therefore investigated whether homozygosity either on the MHC (measured as inbreeding coefficient) or genome-wide (measured as runs of homozygosity and inbreeding coefficient) is associated with rated facial attractiveness. Results Although we found that the genome-wide average length of homozygous segments and the genome-wide inbreeding coefficient are significantly negatively associated with some measures of facial attractiveness, if corrected for multiple testing, any significant association was no longer formally significant after correction. In addition, the variance in facial attractiveness explained by the genome wide homozygosity is very low (<0.15%). We did not find any significant association between the inbreeding coefficient on the MHC and facial attractiveness. Discussion We only find a weak association of genome- wide heterozygosity and facial attractiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Fieder
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and Network of Human Evolution and Archeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Religion and Transformation in Contemporary Society, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- *Correspondence: Martin Fieder,
| | - Susanne Huber
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and Network of Human Evolution and Archeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Amo L, Amo de Paz G, Kabbert J, Machordom A. House sparrows do not exhibit a preference for the scent of potential partners with different MHC-I diversity and genetic distances. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0278892. [PMID: 36542616 PMCID: PMC9770374 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278892] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
MHC genes play a fundamental role in immune recognition of pathogens and parasites. Therefore, females may increase offspring heterozygosity and genetic diversity by selecting males with genetically compatible or heterozygous MHC. In birds, several studies suggest that MHC genes play a role in mate choice, and recent evidence suggests that olfaction may play a role in the MHC-II discrimination. However, whether olfaction is involved in MHC-I discrimination in birds remains unknown. Previous studies indicate that house sparrow females with low allelic diversity prefer males with higher diversity in MHC-I alleles. Here, we directly explored whether female and male house sparrows (Passer domesticus) could estimate by scent MHC-I diversity and/or dissimilarity of potential partners. Our results show that neither females nor males exhibit a preference related to MHC-I diversity or dissimilarity of potential partners, suggesting that MHC-I is not detected through olfaction. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms responsible for mate discrimination based on MHC-I in birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisa Amo
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
- Area of Biodiversity and Conservation, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Móstoles, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Guillermo Amo de Paz
- Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacognosia y Botánica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Johanna Kabbert
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
- Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Annie Machordom
- Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Evolutiva, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), Madrid, Spain
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Blomkvist A, Izzo G, Vaccaro MG, La Vignera S, Brunetti A, Aversa A, Liuzza MT. The Scent of Monogamy: Self-Reported Olfactory Function Predicts Sexual Well-Being and Infidelity in an Italian Population. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:2879-2889. [PMID: 34791581 PMCID: PMC8597879 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-02109-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 05/11/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that olfactory function plays an essential role in the bonding of a romantic relationship. Body odors, in particular, seem involved in both mate choices and other intimate behaviors. Our sense of smell is also crucial to detect possible pathogen threats, by activating a suitable disgust reaction. Previous studies have shown that disgust sensitivity is negatively related to sociosexuality, and disgust generally inhibits our sexual drive. In the present study, we explored the possible relation between olfactory function, pathogen disgust sensitivity, sociosexuality, sexual well-being, and infidelity through a web survey. Our exploratory analyses found that, in a large Italian sample (N = 1107), among those in a stable relationship, self-reported olfactory function predicted sexual well-being (p < .05) and negatively predicted infidelity (p < .05) when controlling for other relevant sociodemographics variables. Moreover, the relation between self-reported olfactory function and sexual well-being was mediated by pathogen disgust sensitivity. Although significant, these results must be interpreted with caution, because the effect sizes were small.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Blomkvist
- Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Giulia Izzo
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine "Gaetano Salvatore", Università degli Studi "Magna Græcia" di Catanzaro, 88100, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Maria Grazia Vaccaro
- Neuroscience Research Center, Università Degli Studi "Magna Græcia" di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Università degli Studi "Magna Græcia" di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
- Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology, National Research Council, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Sandro La Vignera
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
| | - Antonio Brunetti
- Department of Health Sciences, Università degli Studi "Magna Græcia" di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
| | - Antonio Aversa
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine "Gaetano Salvatore", Università degli Studi "Magna Græcia" di Catanzaro, 88100, Catanzaro, Italy.
| | - Marco Tullio Liuzza
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, Università degli Studi "Magna Græcia" di Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy
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Oleszkiewicz A, Schriever VA, Valder C, Agosin E, Altundag A, Avni H, Cao Van H, Cornejo C, Fishman G, Guarneros M, Gupta N, Kamel R, Knaapila A, Konstantinidis I, Landis BN, Larsson M, Lundström JN, Macchi A, Marino-Sanchez F, Mori E, Mullol J, Parma V, Propst EJ, Sandell MA, Sorokowska A, Vodicka J, Hummel T, Gellrich J. Hedonic perception of odors in children aged 5-8 years is similar across 18 countries: Preliminary data. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2022; 157:111129. [PMID: 35443229 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2022.111129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 03/27/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Olfactory preference emerges very early in life, and the sense of smell in children rapidly develops until the second decade of life. It is still unclear whether hedonic perception of odors is shared in children inhabiting different regions of the globe. METHODS Five-hundred ten healthy children (N = 510; ngirls = 256; nboys = 254) aged from 5 to 8 years from 18 countries rated the pleasantness of 17 odors. RESULTS The hedonic perception of odors in children aged between 5 and 8 years was rather consistent across 18 countries and mainly driven by the qualities of an odor and the overall ability of children to label odorants. CONCLUSION Conclusions from this study, being a secondary analysis, are limited to the presented set of odors that were initially selected for the development of U-Sniff test and present null findings for the cross-cultural variability in hedonic perception of odors across 18 countries. These two major issues should be addressed in the future to either contradict or replicate the results presented herewith. This research lays fundament for posing further research questions about the developmental aspects of hedonic perception of odors and opens a new door for investigating cross-cultural differences in chemosensory perception of children.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Oleszkiewicz
- Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Poland.
| | - V A Schriever
- Abteilung Neuropädiatrie, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany; Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Center for Chronically Sick Children (Sozialpädiatrisches Zentrum, SPZ), Berlin, Germany.
| | - C Valder
- Systema Natura GmbH, Flintbek, Germany.
| | - E Agosin
- College of Engineering, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - A Altundag
- Otorhinolaryngology Department of Biruni University Medical Faculty, Acibadem Taksim Hospital Otorhinolaryngology Department, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - H Avni
- Pediatric Feeding Disorders Clinic, Dana Children's Hospital, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
| | - H Cao Van
- Pediatric ENT Unit, Department of Otorhinolaryngologie Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - C Cornejo
- Escuela de Psicología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
| | - G Fishman
- Pediatric Otolaryngology, Dana Children's Hospital, Tel-Aviv Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
| | - M Guarneros
- Departamento de Biología Celular y Fisiología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico.
| | - N Gupta
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, Delhi, India.
| | - R Kamel
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
| | - A Knaapila
- Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - I Konstantinidis
- 2nd Otorhinolaryngology Department of Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece.
| | - B N Landis
- Rhinology-Olfactology Unit, Department of Otorhinolaryngologie Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - M Larsson
- Gösta Ekman Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - J N Lundström
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - A Macchi
- ENT Clinic, University of Insubriae Varese, ASST Settelaghi, Italy.
| | - F Marino-Sanchez
- Unidad de Rinología y Cirugía de Base de Cráneo, Servicio de Otorrinolaringología. Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain.
| | - E Mori
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - J Mullol
- Rhinology Unit & Smell Clinic, ENT Department, Hospital Clínic, IDIBAPS, Universitat de Barcelona, CIBERES, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - V Parma
- Temple University, Department of Psychology, Philadelphia, USA; Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, USA.
| | - E J Propst
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Canada.
| | - M A Sandell
- Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
| | - A Sorokowska
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Poland.
| | - J Vodicka
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Health Studies, University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic.
| | - T Hummel
- Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
| | - J Gellrich
- Abteilung Neuropädiatrie, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany; Klinik und Poliklinik für Kinder- und Jugendheilkunde, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität, Dresden, Germany.
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Bio-behavioral synchrony is a potential mechanism for mate selection in humans. Sci Rep 2022; 12:4786. [PMID: 35314719 PMCID: PMC8938461 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08582-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The decision with whom to form a romantic bond is of great importance, yet the biological or behavioral mechanisms underlying this selective process in humans are largely unknown. Classic evolutionary theories of mate selection emphasize immediate and static features such as physical appearance and fertility. However, they do not explain how initial attraction temporally unfolds during an interaction, nor account for mutual physiological or behavioral adaptations that take place when two people become attracted. Instead, recent theories on social bonding emphasize the importance of co-regulation during social interactions (i.e., the social coordination of physiology and behavior between partners), and predict that co-regulation plays a role in bonding with others. In a speed-date experiment of forty-six heterosexual dates, we recorded the naturally occurring patterns of electrodermal activity and behavioral motion in men and women, and calculated their co-regulation during the date. We demonstrate that co-regulation of behavior and physiology is associated with the date outcome: when a man and a woman synchronize their electrodermal activity and dynamically tune their behavior to one another, they are more likely to be romantically and sexually attracted to one another. This study supports the hypothesis that co-regulation of sympathetic and behavioral rhythms between a man and a woman serves as a mechanism that promotes attraction.
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The social odor scale: Development and initial validation of a new scale for the assessment of social odor awareness. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0260587. [PMID: 34905551 PMCID: PMC8670672 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The degree of attention individuals pay to olfactory cues (called odor awareness) influences the role of odors in everyday life. Particularly, odors produced by the human body (i.e., social odors) are able to carry a wide variety of information and to elicit a broad spectrum of emotional reactions, making them essential in interpersonal relationships. Hence, despite the assessment of awareness toward social odors is crucial, a proper tool is still lacking. Here, we designed and initially validated the Social Odor Scale (SOS), a 12-item scale designed to measure the individual differences in awareness towards different social odors. In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA; KMO test: MSA = 0.78; Bartlett's test: χ2(78) = 631.34, p < 0.001; Chi-squared test: χ2(42) = 71.84, p = 0.003) suggests that the three factors structure was the model that best fit with the Italian version of the scale. The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supports a second-order model with one higher-order factor representing social odor awareness in general and three lower-order factors representing familiar, romantic partner, and stranger social odors. The final version of the scale presented a good fit (RMSEA = 0.012, SRMR = 0.069, CFI = 0.998, TLI = 0.997). In Study 2, CFA was performed in the German version of the scale confirming the validity of scale structure. Study 3 and 4 revealed that SOS total score and its subscales were positively correlated with other validated olfactory scales, but not with olfactory abilities. Moreover, SOS was found to be related to the gender of the participants: women reported to be more aware to social odors and, specifically, to familiar social odors than men. Overall, the results indicated that SOS is a valid and reliable instrument to assess awareness toward social odors in everyday life.
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A Preliminary Investigation of Interspecific Chemosensory Communication of Emotions: Can Humans ( Homo sapiens) Recognise Fear- and Non-Fear Body Odour from Horses ( Equus ferus caballus). Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11123499. [PMID: 34944275 PMCID: PMC8697966 DOI: 10.3390/ani11123499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Revised: 11/18/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Thus far, little attention has been paid to interspecific odour communication of emotions, and no studies have examined whether humans are able to recognise animal emotions from body odour. Thus, the aim of the present study was to address this question. Body odour samples were collected from 16 two-year-old thoroughbred horses in fear and non-fear situations, respectively. The horse odour samples were then assessed by 73 human odour raters. We found that humans, as a group, were able to correctly assign whether horse odour samples were collected under a fear- or a non-fear condition, respectively. An open question remains, which is whether humans could simply distinguish between little versus much sweat and between high intensity versus low intensity or were able to recognise horses’ fear and non-fear emotions. To conclude, the present results indicate that olfaction might contribute to the human recognition of horse emotions. However, these results should be addressed with caution in light of the study’s limitations and only viewed as exploratory for future studies. Abstract Mammalian body odour conveys cues about an individual’s emotional state that can be recognised by conspecifics. Thus far, little attention has been paid to interspecific odour communication of emotions, and no studies have examined whether humans are able to recognise animal emotions from body odour. Thus, the aim of the present study was to address this question. Body odour samples were collected from 16 two-year-old thoroughbred horses in fear and non-fear situations, respectively. The horse odour samples were then assessed by 73 human odour raters. We found that humans, as a group, were able to correctly assign whether horse odour samples were collected under a fear- or a non-fear condition, respectively. Furthermore, they perceived the body odour of horses collected under the fear condition as more intense, compared with the non-fear condition. An open question remains, which is whether humans could simply distinguish between little versus much sweat and between high intensity versus low intensity or were able to recognise horses’ fear and non-fear emotions. These results appear to fit the notion that the ability to recognise emotions in other species may present an advantage to both the sender and the receiver of emotional cues, particularly in the interaction between humans and domesticated animals. To conclude, the present results indicate that olfaction might contribute to the human recognition of horse emotions. However, these results should be addressed with caution in light of the study’s limitations and only viewed as exploratory for future studies.
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Versluys TMM, Flintham EO, Mas-Sandoval A, Savolainen V. Why do we pick similar mates, or do we? Biol Lett 2021; 17:20210463. [PMID: 34813721 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0463] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans often mate with those resembling themselves, a phenomenon described as positive assortative mating (PAM). The causes of this attract broad interest, but there is little agreement on the topic. This may be because empirical studies and reviews sometimes focus on just a few explanations, often based on disciplinary conventions. This review presents an interdisciplinary conceptual framework on the causes of PAM in humans, drawing on human and non-human biology, the social sciences, and the humanities. Viewing causality holistically, we first discuss the proximate causes (i.e. the 'how') of PAM, considering three mechanisms: stratification, convergence and mate choice. We also outline methods to control for confounders when studying mate choice. We then discuss ultimate explanations (i.e. 'the why') for PAM, including adaptive and non-adaptive processes. We conclude by suggesting a focus on interdisciplinarity in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas M M Versluys
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom
| | - Ewan O Flintham
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Mas-Sandoval
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom
| | - Vincent Savolainen
- Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Buckhurst Road, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, United Kingdom
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15
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Scheller M, Matorres F, Little AC, Tompkins L, de Sousa AA. The Role of Vision in the Emergence of Mate Preferences. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2021; 50:3785-3797. [PMID: 33851315 PMCID: PMC8604830 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-020-01901-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Revised: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Cross-cultural research has repeatedly demonstrated sex differences in the importance of partner characteristics when choosing a mate. Men typically report higher preferences for younger, more physically attractive women, while women typically place more importance on a partner's status and wealth. As the assessment of such partner characteristics often relies on visual cues, this raises the question whether visual experience is necessary for sex-specific mate preferences to develop. To shed more light onto the emergence of sex differences in mate choice, the current study assessed how preferences for attractiveness, resources, and personality factors differ between sighted and blind individuals using an online questionnaire. We further investigate the role of social factors and sensory cue selection in these sex differences. Our sample consisted of 94 sighted and blind participants with different ages of blindness onset: 19 blind/28 sighted males and 19 blind/28 sighted females. Results replicated well-documented findings in the sighted, with men placing more importance on physical attractiveness and women placing more importance on status and resources. However, while physical attractiveness was less important to blind men, blind women considered physical attractiveness as important as sighted women. The importance of a high status and likeable personality was not influenced by sightedness. Blind individuals considered auditory cues more important than visual cues, while sighted males showed the opposite pattern. Further, relationship status and indirect, social influences were related to preferences. Overall, our findings shed light on the availability of visual information for the emergence of sex differences in mate preference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meike Scheller
- Department of Psychology, University of Bath, Bath, UK.
- School of Psychology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, UK.
| | | | | | - Lucy Tompkins
- Centre for Health and Cognition, Bath Spa University, Bath, UK
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16
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Damon F, Mezrai N, Magnier L, Leleu A, Durand K, Schaal B. Olfaction in the Multisensory Processing of Faces: A Narrative Review of the Influence of Human Body Odors. Front Psychol 2021; 12:750944. [PMID: 34675855 PMCID: PMC8523678 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.750944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
A recent body of research has emerged regarding the interactions between olfaction and other sensory channels to process social information. The current review examines the influence of body odors on face perception, a core component of human social cognition. First, we review studies reporting how body odors interact with the perception of invariant facial information (i.e., identity, sex, attractiveness, trustworthiness, and dominance). Although we mainly focus on the influence of body odors based on axillary odor, we also review findings about specific steroids present in axillary sweat (i.e., androstenone, androstenol, androstadienone, and estratetraenol). We next survey the literature showing body odor influences on the perception of transient face properties, notably in discussing the role of body odors in facilitating or hindering the perception of emotional facial expression, in relation to competing frameworks of emotions. Finally, we discuss the developmental origins of these olfaction-to-vision influences, as an emerging literature indicates that odor cues strongly influence face perception in infants. Body odors with a high social relevance such as the odor emanating from the mother have a widespread influence on various aspects of face perception in infancy, including categorization of faces among other objects, face scanning behavior, or facial expression perception. We conclude by suggesting that the weight of olfaction might be especially strong in infancy, shaping social perception, especially in slow-maturing senses such as vision, and that this early tutoring function of olfaction spans all developmental stages to disambiguate a complex social environment by conveying key information for social interactions until adulthood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabrice Damon
- Developmental Ethology and Cognitive Psychology Laboratory, Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l’Alimentation, Inrae, AgroSup Dijon, CNRS (UMR 6265), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France
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17
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Caniklioğlu M, Öztekin Ü, Caniklioğlu A, Selmi V, Sarı S, Işıkay L. Can Annual Daylight Cycles and Seasons Have an Effect on Male Sexual Functions? Cureus 2021; 13:e18879. [PMID: 34804728 PMCID: PMC8599110 DOI: 10.7759/cureus.18879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Mammals' sexual functions exhibit seasonal variations that have been attributed to changes in the daylight. In this study, taking into consideration endocrine and psychogenic status, we aimed to investigate whether human males experience changes in erectile functions and sexual desire depending on daylight periods and seasons, and whether periodicity exists in human sexual behavior. Materials and methods International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and psychiatric scale scores of 221 male patients were evaluated. In addition, hormonal parameters of the patients were examined. These data were first evaluated in two groups (summer and winter) according to local daylight amounts the participants received. Then IIEF scores were also analyzed according to four conventional seasons (winter, spring, summer, and autumn). Results There was no significant difference in laboratory data, psychiatric scale scores and IIEF evaluations between summer and winter groups. Moreover, no significant difference was found in terms of sexual desire and erectile functions in terms of four seasons (p > 0.05). Conclusion According to the results of this study, there is no periodicity in human sexual functions both in relation to daylight and four seasons.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Ayşen Caniklioğlu
- Clinical Biochemistry, Bozok University Faculty of Medicine, Yozgat, TUR
| | - Volkan Selmi
- Urology, Bozok University Faculty of Medicine, Yozgat, TUR
| | - Sercan Sarı
- Urology, Bozok University Faculty of Medicine, Yozgat, TUR
| | - Levent Işıkay
- Urology, Bozok University Faculty of Medicine, Yozgat, TUR
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18
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Fiurašková K, Havlíček J, Roberts SC. Dietary and psychosocial correlates of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Food Qual Prefer 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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19
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Denic S, Agarwal MM. Altruism as an Explanation for Human Consanguinity. Public Health Genomics 2021; 25:1-11. [PMID: 34569535 DOI: 10.1159/000518441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human inbreeding is a sociobiological puzzle. Despite widespread knowledge of its potential for genetic disorders, human consanguinity remains surprisingly common. The current reasons explaining its continued persistence in today's modern world have major shortcomings. SUMMARY We propose that the Neolithic Agrarian revolution modified the structure of populations. It increased competition for the limited resources in which a larger group had better chances of survival. As a result, small, drifting, socially open bands of hunter-gatherers were transformed into bigger, less mobile, and more powerful kinship groups (tribes). In this transformation, a central role was played by human trust - an aspect of human altruism which is a universal sociobiological principle of behavior. Altruism (and trust) is an essential premise of social contracts such as economic cooperation, marriage arrangement, and creation of alliances between people. In kinship groups, human trust is limited to kin, so tribes remain small, economically poor, and consanguineous due to lack of nonkin mates. The expanding of trust from kin to that of nonbiological relatives increases the size of human groups, fosters economic wealth, and decreases the rate of consanguinity. Key Messages: The lack of nonkin altruism leads to: (a) poverty (due to poor economic cooperation with nonkin), (b) maintaining small group size, and (c) inbreeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Srdjan Denic
- College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Mukesh M Agarwal
- California University of Science and Medicine, San Bernardino, California, USA
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20
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Auld HL, Jacobson DP, Rhodes AC, Banks MA. Differences in Mate Pairings of Hatchery- and Natural-Origin Coho Salmon Inferred from Offspring Genotypes. Integr Org Biol 2021; 3:obab020. [PMID: 34409260 PMCID: PMC8363981 DOI: 10.1093/iob/obab020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Captive breeding can affect how sexual selection acts on subsequent generations. One context where this is important is in fish hatcheries. In many salmon hatcheries, spawning is controlled artificially and offspring are reared in captivity before release into the wild. While previous studies have suggested that hatchery- and natural-origin fish may make different mate choice decisions, it remains to be determined how hatchery fish may be making different mate choice decisions compared with natural-origin fish at a genetic level. Using genotyping-by-sequencing, we identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with variation in mate pairings from a natural context involving hatchery- and natural-origin coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). In both natural-origin and hatchery mate pairs, we observed more SNPs with negative assortment than positive assortment. However, only 3% of the negative assortment SNPs were shared between the two mating groups, and 1% of the positive assortment SNPs were shared between the two mating groups, indicating divergence in mating cues between wild and hatchery-raised salmon. These findings shed light on mate choice in general and may have important implications in the conservation management of species as well as for improving other captive breeding scenarios. There remains much to discover about mate choice in salmon and research described here reflects our intent to test the potential of ongoing advances in population genomics to develop new hatchery practices that may improve the performance of hatchery offspring, lessening the differences and thus potential impacts upon wild stocks.
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Affiliation(s)
- H L Auld
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - D P Jacobson
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | - A C Rhodes
- Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Oregon State University, Newport, OR 97365, USA
| | - M A Banks
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
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21
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Sorokowska A, Janczak A, Ferdenzi C, Baldovini N, Oleszkiewicz A. Blindness, But Not HMHA Anosmia, Predicts Loneliness: A Psychophysical Study. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2021; 48:1167-1176. [PMID: 34323148 DOI: 10.1177/01461672211034376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Olfactory deficits can play a detrimental role in everyday social functioning. Perception of 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid (HMHA)-a body odor component-could also be linked to this research area. However, no study so far has addressed the problem of HMHA perception in the context of the previously reported relationship between olfactory abilities and social difficulties. Here, we tested whether HMHA-specific anosmia predicted loneliness understood both as a cognitive evaluation of social participation and as one's social isolation, and we additionally analyzed the effects and correlates of HMHA perception in relation to sightedness. The study comprised 196 people, of whom 99 were blind. We found that subjects with blindness declared particularly high loneliness, but HMHA anosmia and the interaction of sightedness and HMHA anosmia predicted neither loneliness nor social withdrawal. In addition, HMHA pleasantness was positively associated with social withdrawal of the subjects with blindness and emotional loneliness correlated with HMHA familiarity regardless of sightedness.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anna Janczak
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Poland
| | - Camille Ferdenzi
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, CNRS UMR5292 - Inserm U1028 - Claude Bernard University Lyon 1, Bron, France
| | | | - Anna Oleszkiewicz
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Poland.,Smell and Taste Clinic, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
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22
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Nunes K, Maia MHT, Dos Santos EJM, Dos Santos SEB, Guerreiro JF, Petzl-Erler ML, Bedoya G, Gallo C, Poletti G, Llop E, Tsuneto L, Bortolini MC, Rothhammer F, Single R, Ruiz-Linares A, Rocha J, Meyer D. How natural selection shapes genetic differentiation in the MHC region: A case study with Native Americans. Hum Immunol 2021; 82:523-531. [PMID: 33812704 PMCID: PMC8217218 DOI: 10.1016/j.humimm.2021.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Revised: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) loci are extremely well documented targets of balancing selection, yet few studies have explored how selection affects population differentiation at these loci. In the present study we investigate genetic differentiation at HLA genes by comparing differentiation at microsatellites distributed genomewide to those in the MHC region. Our study uses a sample of 494 individuals from 30 human populations, 28 of which are Native Americans, all of whom were typed for genomewide and MHC region microsatellites. We find greater differentiation in the MHC than in the remainder of the genome (FST-MHC = 0.130 and FST-Genomic = 0.087), and use a permutation approach to show that this difference is statistically significant, and not accounted for by confounding factors. This finding lies in the opposite direction to the expectation that balancing selection reduces population differentiation. We interpret our findings as evidence that selection favors different sets of alleles in distinct localities, leading to increased differentiation. Thus, balancing selection at HLA genes simultaneously increases intra-population polymorphism and inter-population differentiation in Native Americans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly Nunes
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Gabriel Bedoya
- Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Carla Gallo
- Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Giovanni Poletti
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
| | - Elena Llop
- Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Faculdad de Medicina, Universidade de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Luiza Tsuneto
- Departamento de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Brazil
| | - Maria Cátira Bortolini
- Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
| | | | - Richard Single
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
| | - Andrés Ruiz-Linares
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; D Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, EFS, ADES, Marseille 13007, France
| | - Jorge Rocha
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; CIBIO - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
| | - Diogo Meyer
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
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23
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Spence C. The scent of attraction and the smell of success: crossmodal influences on person perception. Cogn Res Princ Implic 2021; 6:46. [PMID: 34173932 PMCID: PMC8233629 DOI: 10.1186/s41235-021-00311-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent decades, there has been an explosion of research into the crossmodal influence of olfactory cues on multisensory person perception. Numerous peer-reviewed studies have documented that a variety of olfactory stimuli, from ambient malodours through to fine fragrances, and even a range of chemosensory body odours can influence everything from a perceiver's judgments of another person's attractiveness, age, affect, health/disease status, and even elements of their personality. The crossmodal and multisensory contributions to such effects are reviewed and the limitations/peculiarities of the research that have been published to date are highlighted. At the same time, however, it is important to note that the presence of scent (and/or the absence of malodour) can also influence people's (i.e., a perceiver's) self-confidence which may, in turn, affect how attractive they appear to others. Several potential cognitive mechanisms have been put forward to try and explain such crossmodal/multisensory influences, and some of the neural substrates underpinning these effects have now been characterized. At the end of this narrative review, a number of the potential (and actual) applications for, and implications of, such crossmodal/multisensory phenomena involving olfaction are outlined briefly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Spence
- Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Anna Watts Building, Oxford, OX2 6BW, UK.
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Magris M, Jokiniemi A, Kuusipalo L, Ritari J, Koskela S, Partanen J, Kekäläinen J. Structural dissimilarity of partners' immune genes increases sperm viability in women's reproductive tract. J Evol Biol 2021; 34:1125-1132. [PMID: 34056789 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13872] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Human leucocyte antigen (HLA) genes appear to mediate pre- and post-copulatory mate choice towards HLA-dissimilar ('compatible') partners. However, since genetically distinct alleles often have similar immunogenic properties, genetic dissimilarity is not necessarily an accurate predictor of the functional compatibility of HLA alleles and, hence, may not reflect partners' true compatibility. Furthermore, it has remained unclear whether other genes of the immune system could also play a role in male-female compatibility. We studied whether the immunoglobulin binding regions (eplets) of HLA molecules and the immunoglobulin structural dissimilarity of the partners affect their gamete-level compatibility. We exposed sperm of multiple men to follicular fluid or cervical mucus of multiple women and tested whether sperm viability in these reproductive secretions was influenced by HLA eplet and immunoglobulin structural dissimilarity between partners. We found that eplet dissimilarity positively affects sperm viability in follicular fluid, whereas immunoglobulin dissimilarity enhanced sperm viability in cervical mucus. Together, these findings indicate that structural characteristics of both HLA alleles and immunoglobulins may facilitate cryptic female choice towards immunologically compatible partners. Our results, thus, indicate that partners' genetic compatibility may have wider immunological basis than traditionally has been assumed. Relative contribution of different immunogenetic factors to overall compatibility of the reproductive partners needs to be clarified in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Magris
- Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
| | - Annalaura Jokiniemi
- Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
| | | | - Jarmo Ritari
- Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Research and Development, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Satu Koskela
- Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Research and Development, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jukka Partanen
- Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Research and Development, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jukka Kekäläinen
- Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
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25
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Abstract
Odors may be pleasant or unpleasant and in practice, pleasant odors are attractive while unpleasant odors are repellent. However, an odor that is noxious to one species may be attractive to another. Plants, predators, and pathogens may enhance their transmission by manipulating these signals. This may be especially significant when odors attract arthropod disease vectors. Odor detection may also be important in small prey species for evasion of macropredators such as large carnivores. Conversely, pleasant odors may identify family members, parents, or sexual partners. They may also generate signals of good health or fitness and contribute to the process of mate selection. In this review, we seek to integrate these odor-driven processes into a coherent pattern of behaviors that serve to complement the innate and adaptive immune systems. It may be considered the 'behavioral immune system'.
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26
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Moore A. The cost of superficial values in a life-threatening pandemic: How globalization grates against evolution…. Bioessays 2021; 43:e2100026. [PMID: 33604925 PMCID: PMC7995121 DOI: 10.1002/bies.202100026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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27
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Poirier AC, Waterhouse JS, Watsa M, Erkenswick GA, Moreira LAA, Tang J, Dunn JC, Melin AD, Smith AC. On the trail of primate scent signals: A field analysis of callitrichid scent-gland secretions by portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23236. [PMID: 33534928 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2020] [Revised: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 01/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Chemosignals are mediators of social interactions in mammals, providing con- and hetero-specifics with information on fixed (e.g., species, sex, group, and individual identity) and variable (e.g., social, reproductive, and health status) features of the signaler. Yet, methodological difficulties of recording and quantifying odor signals, especially in field conditions, have hampered studies of natural systems. We present the first use of the Torion® portable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) instrument for in situ chemical analysis of primate scents. We collected and analyzed swab samples from the scent glands and skin from 13 groups (57 individuals) of two sympatric species of wild emperor tamarins, Saguinus imperator, and Weddell's saddleback tamarins, Leontocebus weddelli (Callitrichidae). In total, 11 compounds of interest (i.e., probably derived from the animals) could be detected in the samples, with 31 of 215 samples containing at least one compound of interest. The composition of these 31 samples varied systematically with species, group, sex, and breeding status. Moreover, we tentatively identified seven of the compounds of interest as methyl hexanoate, benzaldehyde, ethyl hexanoate, acetophenone, a branched C15 alkane, 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, and hexadecan-1-ol. As the field of primate semiochemistry continues to grow, we believe that portable GC-MS instruments have the potential to help make progress in the study of primate chemosignaling in field conditions, despite limitations that we encountered. We further provide recommendations for future use of the Torion® portable GC-MS for in situ analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice C Poirier
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.,School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Mrinalini Watsa
- Population Sustainability, Institute for Conservation Research, San Diego Zoo Global, San Diego, California, USA.,Field Projects International, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Gideon A Erkenswick
- Field Projects International, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Missouri St. Louis, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.,Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Laís A A Moreira
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - Jia Tang
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - Jacob C Dunn
- School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.,Biological Anthropology, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.,Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Amanda D Melin
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.,Department of Medical Genetics and Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - Andrew C Smith
- School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
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28
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Boesveldt S, Parma V. The importance of the olfactory system in human well-being, through nutrition and social behavior. Cell Tissue Res 2021; 383:559-567. [PMID: 33433688 PMCID: PMC7802608 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-020-03367-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The human sense of smell is still much underappreciated, despite its importance for vital functions such as warning and protection from environmental hazards, eating behavior and nutrition, and social communication. We here approach olfaction as a sense of well-being and review the available literature on how the sense of smell contributes to building and maintaining well-being through supporting nutrition and social relationships. Humans seem to be able to extract nutritional information from olfactory food cues, which can trigger specific appetite and direct food choice, but may not always impact actual intake behavior. Beyond food enjoyment, as part of quality of life, smell has the ability to transfer and regulate emotional conditions, and thus impacts social relationships, at various stages across life (e.g., prenatal and postnatal, during puberty, for partner selection and in sickness). A better understanding of how olfactory information is processed and employed for these functions so vital for well-being may be used to reduce potential negative consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanne Boesveldt
- Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, Stippeneng 4, 6708, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Valentina Parma
- Department of Psychology, Temple University, 1701 North 13th Street, PA, 19122, Philadelphia, USA. .,Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market St., PA, Philadelphia, 19104, USA.
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29
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Ye Y, Lu Z, Zhou W. Pheromone effects on the human hypothalamus in relation to sexual orientation and gender. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2021; 182:293-306. [PMID: 34266600 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-819973-2.00021-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Pheromones are chemicals that serve communicational purposes within a species. In most terrestrial mammals, pheromones are detected by either the olfactory epithelium or the vomeronasal organ and processed by various downstream structures including the medial amygdala and the hypothalamus to regulate motivated behaviors and endocrine responses. The search for human pheromones began in the 1970s. Whereas bioactive ligands are yet to be identified, there has been accumulating evidence that human body odors exert a range of pheromone-like effects on the recipients, including triggering innate behavioral responses, modulating endocrine levels, signaling social information, and affecting mood and cognition. In parallel, results from recent brain imaging studies suggest that body odors evoke distinct neural responses from those observed with common nonsocial odors. Two endogenous steroids androsta-4,16,- dien-3-one and estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol are considered by some as candidates for human sex pheromones. The two substances produce sexually dimorphic effects on human perception, mood, and physiological arousal. Moreover, they reportedly elicit different hypothalamic response patterns in manners contingent on the recipients' sex and sexual orientation. Neuroendocrine mechanisms underlying the effects of human chemosignals are not yet clear and await future detailed analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuting Ye
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhonghua Lu
- Brain Cognition and Brain Disease Institute, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Wen Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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30
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Nabergoj D, Janeš D, Fatur K, Glavač NK, Kreft S. Influence of the Human Menstrual Cycle
on the Perception of Musks and Substances Responsible for Body Odour. J EVOL BIOCHEM PHYS+ 2020. [DOI: 10.1134/s0022093020060095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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31
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Dal Bò E, Gentili C, Cecchetto C. Human Chemosignals and Brain Activity: A Preliminary Meta-analysis of the Processing of Human Body Odors. Chem Senses 2020; 45:855-864. [PMID: 33179726 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjaa067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Across phyla, chemosignals are a widely used form of social communication and increasing evidence suggests that chemosensory communication is present also in humans. Chemosignals can transfer, via body odors, socially relevant information, such as specific information about identity or emotional states. However, findings on neural correlates of processing of body odors are divergent. The aims of this meta-analysis were to assess the brain areas involved in the perception of body odors (both neutral and emotional) and the specific activation patterns for the perception of neutral body odor (NBO) and emotional body odor (EBO). We conducted an activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on 16 experiments (13 studies) examining brain activity during body odors processing. We found that the contrast EBO versus NBO resulted in significant convergence in the right middle frontal gyrus and the left cerebellum, whereas the pooled meta-analysis combining all the studies of human odors showed significant convergence in the right inferior frontal gyrus. No significant cluster was found for NBOs. However, our findings also highlight methodological heterogeneity across the existing literature. Further neuroimaging studies are needed to clarify and support the existing findings on neural correlates of processing of body odors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Dal Bò
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, Padua, Italy.,Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, Padua, Italy
| | - Claudio Gentili
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padua, Via Orus 2/B, Padua, Italy.,Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, Padua, Italy
| | - Cinzia Cecchetto
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, Padua, Italy
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32
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Croy I, Ritschel G, Kreßner-Kiel D, Schäfer L, Hummel T, Havlíček J, Sauter J, Ehninger G, Schmidt AH. Marriage does not relate to major histocompatibility complex: a genetic analysis based on 3691 couples. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201800. [PMID: 33023409 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1800] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Optimization of chances for healthy offspring is thought to be one of the factors driving mate choice and compatibility of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is assumed to determine the offspring's fitness. While humans have been claimed to be able to perceive information of MHC compatibility via the olfactory channel, it remains unknown whether humans use such information for mate choice. By investigation of 3691 married couples, we observed that the high polymorphism of MHC leads to a low chance for homozygous offspring. MHC similarity between couples did not differ from chance, we hence observed no MHC effect in married couples. Hormonal contraception at the time of relationship initiation had no significant effect towards enhanced similarity. A low variety of alleles within a postcode area led to a higher likelihood of homozygous offspring. Based on this data, we conclude that there is no pattern of MHC dis-assortative mating in a genetically diverse Western society. We discuss the question of olfactory mate preference, in-group mating bias and the high polymorphism as potential explanations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilona Croy
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany
| | - Gerhard Ritschel
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany
| | - Denise Kreßner-Kiel
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany
| | - Laura Schäfer
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany
| | - Thomas Hummel
- Interdisciplinary Center 'Smell & Taste', Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Dresden, Germany
| | - Jan Havlíček
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | | | | | - Alexander H Schmidt
- DKMS gemeinnützige GmbH, Tübingen, Germany.,DKMS Life Science Laboratory GmbH, Dresden, Germany
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33
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Jamie GA, Meier JI. The Persistence of Polymorphisms across Species Radiations. Trends Ecol Evol 2020; 35:795-808. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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34
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Jokiniemi A, Magris M, Ritari J, Kuusipalo L, Lundgren T, Partanen J, Kekäläinen J. Post-copulatory genetic matchmaking: HLA-dependent effects of cervical mucus on human sperm function. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20201682. [PMID: 32811307 PMCID: PMC7482290 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Several studies have demonstrated that women show pre-copulatory mating preferences for human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-dissimilar men. A fascinating, yet unexplored, possibility is that the ultimate mating bias towards HLA-dissimilar partners could occur after copulation, at the gamete level. Here, we explored this possibility by investigating whether the selection towards HLA-dissimilar partners occurs in the cervical mucus. After combining sperm and cervical mucus from multiple males and females (full factorial design), we found that sperm performance (swimming velocity, hyperactivation, and viability) was strongly influenced by the male–female combination. This indicates that sperm fertilization capability may be dependent on the compatibility between cervical mucus (female) and sperm (male). We also found that sperm viability was associated with partners' HLA dissimilarity, indicating that cervical mucus may selectively facilitate later gamete fusion between immunogenetically compatible partners. Together, these results provide novel insights into the female-mediated sperm selection (cryptic female choice) in humans and indicate that processes occurring after copulation may contribute to the mating bias towards HLA-dissimilar partners. Finally, by showing that sperm performance in cervical mucus is influenced by partners' genetic compatibility, the present findings may promote a deeper understanding of infertility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annalaura Jokiniemi
- Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
| | - Martina Magris
- Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
| | - Jarmo Ritari
- Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Research and Development, Haartmaninkatu 8, 00290 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Liisa Kuusipalo
- North Karelia Central Hospital, Tikkamäentie 16, 80210 Joensuu, Finland
| | - Tuulia Lundgren
- Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
| | - Jukka Partanen
- Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Research and Development, Haartmaninkatu 8, 00290 Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jukka Kekäläinen
- Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 111, 80101 Joensuu, Finland
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35
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Balthazart J. Sexual partner preference in animals and humans. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 115:34-47. [PMID: 32450091 PMCID: PMC7484171 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.03.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Sex differences in brain and behavior of animals including humans result from an interaction between biological and environmental influences. This is also true for the differences between men and women concerning sexual orientation. Sexual differentiation is mediated by three groups of biological mechanisms: early actions of sex steroids, more direct actions of sex-specific genes not mediated by gonadal sex steroids and epigenetic mechanisms. Differential interactions with parents and conspecifics have additionally long-term influences on behavior. This presentation reviews available evidence indicating that these different mechanisms play a significant role in the control of sexual partner preference in animals and humans, in other words the homosexual versus heterosexual orientation. Clinical and epidemiological studies of phenotypically selected populations indicate that early actions of hormones and genetic factors clearly contribute to the determination of sexual orientation. The maternal embryonic environment also modifies the incidence of male homosexuality via immunological mechanisms. The relative contribution of each of these mechanisms remains however to be determined.
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36
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No evidence for a relationship between MHC heterozygosity and life history strategy in a sample of North American undergraduates. Sci Rep 2020; 10:10140. [PMID: 32576939 PMCID: PMC7311407 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-67406-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Although allelic diversity at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) has implications for adaptive immunity, mate choice, and social signalling, how diversity at the MHC influences the calibration of life history strategies remains largely uninvestigated. The current study investigated whether greater MHC heterozygosity was associated with markers of slower life history strategies in a sample of 789 North American undergraduates. Contrary to preregistered predictions and to previously published findings, MHC heterozygosity was not related to any of the psychological life history-relevant variables measured (including short- vs. long-term sexual strategy, temporal discounting, the Arizona life history battery, past and current health, disgust sensitivity, and Big Five personality traits). Further, no meaningful effects emerged when analysing women and men separately. Possible reasons for why the current results are inconsistent with previous work are discussed.
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37
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Havlíček J, Winternitz J, Roberts SC. Major histocompatibility complex-associated odour preferences and human mate choice: near and far horizons. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190260. [PMID: 32306884 PMCID: PMC7209936 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a core part of the adaptive immune system. As in other vertebrate taxa, it may also affect human chemical communication via odour-based mate preferences, with greater attraction towards MHC-dissimilar partners. However, despite some well-known findings, the available evidence is equivocal and made complicated by varied approaches to quantifying human mate choice. To address this, we here conduct comprehensive meta-analyses focusing on studies assessing: (i) genomic mate selection, (ii) relationship satisfaction, (iii) odour preference, and (iv) all studies combined. Analysis of genomic studies reveals no association between MHC-dissimilarity and mate choice in actual couples; however, MHC effects appear to be independent of the genomic background. The effect of MHC-dissimilarity on relationship satisfaction was not significant, and we found evidence for publication bias in studies on this area. There was also no significant association between MHC-dissimilarity and odour preferences. Finally, combining effect sizes from all genomic, relationship satisfaction, odour preference and previous mate choice studies into an overall estimate showed no overall significant effect of MHC-similarity on human mate selection. Based on these findings, we make a set of recommendations for future studies, focusing both on aspects that should be implemented immediately and those that lurk on the far horizon. We need larger samples with greater geographical and cultural diversity that control for genome-wide similarity. We also need more focus on mechanisms of MHC-associated odour preferences and on MHC-associated pregnancy loss. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Havlíček
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 42 Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Jamie Winternitz
- Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld 33615, Germany
| | - S. Craig Roberts
- Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
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38
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Schäfer L, Sorokowska A, Sauter J, Schmidt AH, Croy I. Body odours as a chemosignal in the mother-child relationship: new insights based on an human leucocyte antigen-genotyped family cohort. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190266. [PMID: 32306871 PMCID: PMC7209942 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Mothers are able to identify the body odour (BO) of their own child and prefer this smell above other BOs. It has hence been assumed that the infantile BO functions as a chemosignal promoting targeted parental care. We tested this hypothesis and examined whether children's BOs signal genetic similarity and developmental status to mothers. In addition, we assessed whether BOs facilitate inbreeding avoidance (Westermarck effect). In a cross-sectional design, N = 164 mothers participated with their biological children (N = 226 children, aged 0-18 years) and evaluated BO probes of their own and four other, sex-matched children. Those varied in age and in genetic similarity, which was assessed by human leucocyte antigen profiling. The study showed not only that mothers identified and preferred their own child's BO, but also that genetic similarity and developmental status are transcribed in BOs. Accordingly, maternal preference of their own child's odour changes throughout development. Our data partly supported the Westermarck effect: mothers' preference of pubertal boys' BOs was negatively related to testosterone for the own son, but not for unfamiliar children. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Schäfer
- Department of Psychosomatics, Technische Universität, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany
| | - Agnieszka Sorokowska
- Department of Psychosomatics, Technische Universität, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany
- Smell and Taste Lab, Department of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, pl. Dawida 1, 50-527, Wroclaw, Poland
| | | | - Alexander H. Schmidt
- DKMS, Kressbach 1, 72072 Tübingen, Germany
- DKMS Life Science Lab, St. Petersburger Straße 2, 01069 Dresden, Germany
| | - Ilona Croy
- Department of Psychosomatics, Technische Universität, Fetscherstraße 74, 01307 Dresden, Germany
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39
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Jaworska J, Jaworski Z, Tobolski D, Siemieniuch M, Janowski T, Górecka-Bruzda A. Selection of reproductive partners in semi-feral horses (Equus caballus) is not influenced by major histocompatibility complex (MHC): A field study. Appl Anim Behav Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.applanim.2020.104973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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40
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Roberts SC, Misztal PK, Langford B. Decoding the social volatilome by tracking rapid context-dependent odour change. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190259. [PMID: 32306868 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Odours can have a significant influence on the outcome of social interactions. However, we have yet to characterize the chemical signature of any specific social cue in human body odour, and we know little about how changes in social context influence odour chemistry. Here, we argue that adoption of emerging analytical techniques from other disciplines, such as atmospheric chemistry, might become game-changing tools in this endeavour. First, we describe the use of online chemical ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry to sensitively measure many hundreds of gas-phase volatile organic compounds in real time. By analysing ambient air emanating from undisturbed individuals or groups, the technique enables a continuous recording of an instantaneous odour change in response to external stimuli and changing social context. This has considerable advantages over the traditional approach of periodic sampling for analysis by gas chromatography. We also discuss multivariate statistical approaches, such as positive matrix factorization, that can effectively sift through this complex datastream to identify linked groups of compounds that probably underpin functional chemosignals. In combination, these innovations offer new avenues for addressing outstanding questions concerning olfactory communication in humans and other species, as well as in related fields using odour, such as biometrics and disease diagnostics. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Craig Roberts
- Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
| | - Pawel K Misztal
- Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.,Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, UK
| | - Ben Langford
- Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Edinburgh EH26 0QB, UK
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41
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Drea CM. Design, delivery and perception of condition-dependent chemical signals in strepsirrhine primates: implications for human olfactory communication. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190264. [PMID: 32306880 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The study of human chemical communication benefits from comparative perspectives that relate humans, conceptually and empirically, to other primates. All major primate groups rely on intraspecific chemosignals, but strepsirrhines present the greatest diversity and specialization, providing a rich framework for examining design, delivery and perception. Strepsirrhines actively scent mark, possess a functional vomeronasal organ, investigate scents via olfactory and gustatory means, and are exquisitely sensitive to chemically encoded messages. Variation in delivery, scent mixing and multimodality alters signal detection, longevity and intended audience. Based on an integrative, 19-species review, the main scent source used (excretory versus glandular) differentiates nocturnal from diurnal or cathemeral species, reflecting differing socioecological demands and evolutionary trajectories. Condition-dependent signals reflect immutable (species, sex, identity, genetic diversity, immunity and kinship) and transient (health, social status, reproductive state and breeding history) traits, consistent with socio-reproductive functions. Sex reversals in glandular elaboration, marking rates or chemical richness in female-dominant species implicate sexual selection of olfactory ornaments in both sexes. Whereas some compounds may be endogenously produced and modified (e.g. via hormones), microbial analyses of different odorants support the fermentation hypothesis of bacterial contribution. The intimate contexts of information transfer and varied functions provide important parallels applicable to olfactory communication in humans. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine M Drea
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0383, USA.,Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0383, USA
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42
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Dandine-Roulland C, Laurent R, Dall'Ara I, Toupance B, Chaix R. Genomic evidence for MHC disassortative mating in humans. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 286:20182664. [PMID: 30890093 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Although pervasive in many animal species, the evidence for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) disassortative mating in humans remains inconsistent across studies. Here, to revisit this issue, we analyse dense genotype data for 883 European and Middle Eastern couples. To distinguish MHC-specific effects from socio-cultural confounders, the pattern of relatedness between spouses in the MHC region is compared to the rest of the genome. Couples from Israel exhibit no significant pattern of relatedness across the MHC region, whereas across the genome, they are more similar than random pairs of individuals, which may reflect social homogamy and/or cousin marriages. On the other hand, couples from The Netherlands and more generally from Northern Europe are significantly more MHC-dissimilar than random pairs of individuals, and this pattern of dissimilarity is extreme when compared with the rest of the genome. Our findings support the hypothesis that the MHC influences mate choice in humans in a context-dependent way: MHC-driven preferences may exist in all populations but, in some populations, social constraints over mate choice may reduce the ability of individuals to rely on such biological cues when choosing their mates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Dandine-Roulland
- Eco-Anthropologie, UMR 7206, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot , Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris , France
| | - Romain Laurent
- Eco-Anthropologie, UMR 7206, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot , Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris , France
| | - Irene Dall'Ara
- Eco-Anthropologie, UMR 7206, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot , Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris , France
| | - Bruno Toupance
- Eco-Anthropologie, UMR 7206, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot , Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris , France
| | - Raphaëlle Chaix
- Eco-Anthropologie, UMR 7206, CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot , Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris , France
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43
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Lobmaier JS, Probst F, Fischbacher U, Wirthmüller U, Knoch D. Pleasant body odours, but not genetic similarity, influence trustworthiness in a modified trust game. Sci Rep 2020; 10:3388. [PMID: 32099082 PMCID: PMC7042344 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-60407-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 02/06/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying trustworthy partners is an important adaptive challenge for establishing mutually cooperative relationships. Previous studies have demonstrated a marked relationship between a person's attractiveness and his apparent trustworthiness (beauty premium). Kin selection theory, however, suggests that cues to kinship enhance trustworthiness. Here we directly tested predictions of the beauty premium and kin selection theory by using body odours as cues to trustworthiness. Body odours reportedly portray information about an individuals' genotype at the human leucocyte antigen system (HLA) and thus olfactory cues in body odours serve as a promising means for kin recognition. Ninety men played trust games in which they divided uneven sums of monetary units between two male trustees represented by their body odour and rated each body odour for pleasantness. Half of the odours came from HLA-similar men (suggesting closer kin) and half from HLA dissimilar men (suggesting non-kin). We found that the amount of money the players transferred was not related to HLA-similarity, but to the pleasantness of the trustee's body odour. By showing that people with more pleasant body odours are trusted more than people with unpleasant body odour we provide evidence for a "beauty-premium" that overrides any putative effect of kin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janek S Lobmaier
- Department of Social Neuroscience and Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Fabian Probst
- Department of Social Neuroscience and Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Urs Fischbacher
- Department of Economics, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Thurgau Institute of Economics, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
| | - Urs Wirthmüller
- Universitätsinstitut für Klinische Chemie, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Daria Knoch
- Department of Social Neuroscience and Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
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44
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Embryo survival in the oviduct not significantly influenced by major histocompatibility complex social signaling in the horse. Sci Rep 2020; 10:1056. [PMID: 31974438 PMCID: PMC6978320 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58056-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 12/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) influences sexual selection in various vertebrates. Recently, MHC-linked social signaling was also shown to influence female fertility in horses (Equus caballus) diagnosed 17 days after fertilization. However, it remained unclear at which stage the pregnancy was terminated. Here we test if MHC-linked cryptic female choice in horses happens during the first days of pregnancy, i.e., until shortly after embryonic entrance into the uterus and before fixation in the endometrium. We exposed estrous mares to one of several unrelated stallions, instrumentally inseminated them with semen of another stallion, and flushed the uterus 8 days later to test for the presence of embryos. In total 68 embryos could be collected from 97 experimental trials. This success rate of 70.1% was significantly different from the mean pregnancy rate of 45.7% observed 17 days after fertilization using the same experimental protocol but without embryo flushing. Embryo recovery rate was not significantly dependent on whether the mares had been socially exposed to an MHC-dissimilar or an MHC-similar stallion. These observations suggest that MHC-linked maternal strategies affect embryo survival mainly (or only) during the time of fixation in the uterus.
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Abstract
The rapidly decreasing costs of generating genetic data sequencing and the ease of new DNA collection technologies have opened up new opportunities for anthropologists to conduct field-based genetic studies. An exciting aspect of this work comes from linking genetic data with the kinds of individual-level traits evolutionary anthropologists often rely on, such as those collected in long-term demographic and ethnographic studies. However, combining these two types of data raises a host of ethical questions related to the collection, analysis and reporting of such data. Here we address this conundrum by examining one particular case, the collection and analysis of paternity data. We are particularly interested in the logistics and ethics involved in genetic paternity testing in the localized settings where anthropologists often work. We discuss the particular issues related to paternity testing in these settings, including consent and disclosure, consideration of local identity and beliefs and developing a process of continued community engagement. We then present a case study of our own research in Namibia, where we developed a multi-tiered strategy for consent and community engagement, built around a double-blind procedure for data collection, analysis and reporting. Paternity testing in anthropology raises ethical and methodological issues. We summarize these and describe a novel double-blind method used in our work.
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46
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Kollikowski A, Zimmermann E, Radespiel U. First experimental evidence for olfactory species discrimination in two nocturnal primate species (Microcebus lehilahytsara and M. murinus). Sci Rep 2019; 9:20386. [PMID: 31892739 PMCID: PMC6938479 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56893-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2019] [Accepted: 12/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Olfactory communication is highly important for nocturnal mammals, especially for solitary foragers, but knowledge is still limited for nocturnal primates. Mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) are nocturnal solitary foragers with a dispersed lifestyle and frequently use chemo-sensory signalling behaviour for governing social interactions. Different mouse lemur species can co-occur in a given forest but it is unknown whether olfaction is involved in species recognition. We first screened 24 captive mouse lemurs (9 M. murinus, 15 M. lehilahytsara) for their olfactory learning potential in an experimental arena and then tested the species discrimination ability with urine odour in an operant conditioning paradigm in four individuals. The majority of the screened animals (75%) did not pass the screening criteria within a 2-week test period. However, all four final test animals, two M. murinus and two M. lehilahytsara, were successfully trained in a 5-step-conditioning process to reliably discriminate conspecific from heterospecific urine odour (requiring an overall median of 293 trials). Findings complement previous studies on the role of acoustic signalling and suggest that olfaction may be an important additional mechanism for species discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annika Kollikowski
- Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
| | - Elke Zimmermann
- Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Ute Radespiel
- Institute of Zoology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Hannover, Germany
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47
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Cherry JA, Baum MJ. Sex differences in main olfactory system pathways involved in psychosexual function. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2019; 19:e12618. [PMID: 31634411 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2019] [Revised: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
We summarize literature from animal and human studies assessing sex differences in the ability of the main olfactory system to detect and process sex-specific olfactory signals ("pheromones") that control the expression of psychosexual functions in males and females. A case is made in non primate mammals for an obligatory role of pheromonal signaling via the main olfactory system (in addition to the vomeronasal-accessory olfactory system) in mate recognition and sexual arousal, with male-specific as well as female-specific pheromones subserving these functions in the opposite sex. Although the case for an obligatory role of pheromones in mate recognition and mating among old world primates, including humans, is weaker, we review the current literature assessing the role of putative human pheromones (eg, AND, EST, "copulin"), detected by the main olfactory system, in promoting mate choice and mating in men and women. Based on animal studies, we hypothesize that sexually dimorphic effects of putative human pheromones are mediated via main olfactory inputs to the medial amygdala which, in turn, transmits olfactory information to sites in the hypothalamus that regulate reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- James A Cherry
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Michael J Baum
- Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
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48
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Sorokowska A, Groyecka A, Karwowski M, Frackowiak T, Lansford JE, Ahmadi K, Alghraibeh AM, Aryeetey R, Bertoni A, Bettache K, Blumen S, Blazejewska M, Bortolini T, Butovskaya M, Cantarero K, Castro FN, Cetinkaya H, Chang L, Chen BB, Cunha D, David D, David OA, Dileym FA, Domínguez Espinosa ADC, Donato S, Dronova D, Dural S, Fialová J, Fisher M, Gulbetekin E, Hamamcioglu Akkaya A, Hilpert P, Hromatko I, Iafrate R, Iesyp M, James B, Jaranovic J, Jiang F, Kimamo CO, Kjelvik G, Koç F, Laar A, Lopes FDA, Macbeth G, Marcano NM, Martinez R, Mesko N, Molodovskaya N, Moradi Qezeli K, Motahari Z, Mühlhauser A, Natividade JC, Ntayi J, Oberzaucher E, Ojedokun O, Omar-Fauzee MSB, Onyishi IE, Paluszak A, Pierce JD, Pillay U, Portugal A, Razumiejczyk E, Realo A, Relvas AP, Rivas M, Rizwan M, Salkicevic S, Sarmány-Schuller I, Schmehl S, Senyk O, Sinding C, Sorbring E, Stamkou E, Stoyanova S, Šukolová D, Sutresna N, Tadinac M, Tapanya S, Teras A, Tinoco Ponciano EL, Tripathi R, Tripathi N, Tripathi M, Uhryn O, Yamamoto ME, Yoo G, Sorokowski P. Global Study of Social Odor Awareness. Chem Senses 2019; 43:503-513. [PMID: 29955865 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjy038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Olfaction plays an important role in human social communication, including multiple domains in which people often rely on their sense of smell in the social context. The importance of the sense of smell and its role can however vary inter-individually and culturally. Despite the growing body of literature on differences in olfactory performance or hedonic preferences across the globe, the aspects of a given culture as well as culturally universal individual differences affecting odor awareness in human social life remain unknown. Here, we conducted a large-scale analysis of data collected from 10 794 participants from 52 study sites from 44 countries all over the world. The aim of our research was to explore the potential individual and country-level correlates of odor awareness in the social context. The results show that the individual characteristics were more strongly related than country-level factors to self-reported odor awareness in different social contexts. A model including individual-level predictors (gender, age, material situation, education, and preferred social distance) provided a relatively good fit to the data, but adding country-level predictors (Human Development Index, population density, and average temperature) did not improve model parameters. Although there were some cross-cultural differences in social odor awareness, the main differentiating role was played by the individual differences. This suggests that people living in different cultures and different climate conditions may still share some similar patterns of odor awareness if they share other individual-level characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Agata Groyecka
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
| | | | | | | | - Khodabakhsh Ahmadi
- Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ahmad M Alghraibeh
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Anna Bertoni
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Karim Bettache
- Department of Psychology, Monash University, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia
| | - Sheyla Blumen
- Department of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Católica Del Perú, Lima, Peru
| | | | - Tiago Bortolini
- Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience Unit, D'Or Institute for Research and Education, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marina Butovskaya
- Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,National Research University, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | - Katarzyna Cantarero
- Faculty in Sopot, SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Sopot, Poland
| | - Felipe Nalon Castro
- Laboratory of Evolution of Human Behavior, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal City, Brazil
| | | | - Lei Chang
- Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Macau, China
| | - Bin-Bin Chen
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Diana Cunha
- Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Daniel David
- International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Oana A David
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Fahd A Dileym
- Department of Psychology, College of Education, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Silvia Donato
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Daria Dronova
- Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Seda Dural
- Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey
| | - Jitka Fialová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Maryanne Fisher
- Department of Psychology, Saint Mary's University, Halifax, Canada
| | | | | | - Peter Hilpert
- School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Surrey, UK
| | - Ivana Hromatko
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Raffaella Iafrate
- Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Mariana Iesyp
- Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine
| | - Bawo James
- Department of Clinical Services, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Benin-City, Nigeria
| | | | - Feng Jiang
- Department of Organization and Human Resources Management, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China
| | | | - Grete Kjelvik
- Department of Medicine and Health Sciences (MH), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Firat Koç
- Faculty of Literature, Department of Anthropology, Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey
| | - Amos Laar
- School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
| | - Fívia de Araújo Lopes
- Laboratory of Evolution of Human Behavior, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal City, Brazil
| | - Guillermo Macbeth
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, National University of Entre Rios, Concepción del Uruguay, Argentina
| | | | - Rocio Martinez
- Department of Social Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Norbert Mesko
- Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary
| | | | | | | | | | - Jean Carlos Natividade
- Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Joseph Ntayi
- Faculty of Computing and Management Science, Makerere University Business School, Kampala, Uganda
| | | | - Oluyinka Ojedokun
- Department of Pure and Applied Psychology, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria
| | | | - Ike E Onyishi
- Department of Psychology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
| | - Anna Paluszak
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland
| | - John D Pierce
- College of Science, Health, and the Liberal Arts, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | | | - Alda Portugal
- Department of Psychology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.,Centre for Social Studies, University of Madeira, Funchal, Madeira
| | - Eugenia Razumiejczyk
- Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, National University of Entre Rios, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Anu Realo
- Institute of Psychology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.,Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Ana Paula Relvas
- Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal.,Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Maria Rivas
- Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, Colombia
| | - Muhammad Rizwan
- Institute of Clinical Psychology, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan
| | - Svjetlana Salkicevic
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Ivan Sarmány-Schuller
- Center of Social and Psychological Sciences SAS, Institute of Experimental Psychology, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Susanne Schmehl
- Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Oksana Senyk
- Department of Psychology, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine
| | - Charlotte Sinding
- INRA, Centre des Sciences du Gout et de l'Alimentation - CSGA, Dijon, France
| | - Emma Sorbring
- Centre for Child and Youth Studies, University West, Trollhättan, Sweden
| | - Eftychia Stamkou
- Departament of Social Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Stanislava Stoyanova
- Department of Psychology, South-West University "Neofit Rilski", Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
| | - Denisa Šukolová
- Educational Research Centre, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia
| | - Nina Sutresna
- Jurusan Pendidikan Kepelatihan, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
| | - Meri Tadinac
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Sombat Tapanya
- Department of Psychiatry, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
| | | | | | - Ritu Tripathi
- Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Bangalore, India
| | - Nachiketa Tripathi
- Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Guwahati, India
| | - Mamta Tripathi
- SRM Institute of Science and Technology, School of Management, Chennai, India
| | - Olja Uhryn
- Faculty of Psychology, Lviv State University of Internal Affairs, Lviv, Ukraine
| | - Maria Emília Yamamoto
- Laboratory of Evolution of Human Behavior, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal City, Brazil
| | - Gyesook Yoo
- Department of Child and Family Studies, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
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49
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Evidence for odour-mediated assortative mating in humans: The impact of hormonal contraception and artificial fragrances. Physiol Behav 2019; 210:112541. [PMID: 31103136 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Revised: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 05/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
There is substantial evidence for assortative partner preferences in humans based on physical characteristics. In contrast, evidence suggests that olfactory preferences tend to be disassortative, with people preferring body odour of potential partners who are dissimilar at key genetic loci, perhaps to gain fitness advantage through offspring heterozygosity. We compared ratings of perceived body odour similarity of real couples with those of randomly paired 'fake' couples. Contrary to prediction, we find that odours of real partners are perceived more, rather than less, similar to each other than fake couples. However, this applied only to natural odour samples: there were no differences in similarity levels of real and fake couples' samples which were collected while wearing artificial fragrances. Furthermore, in light of suggestions that hormonal contraception (HC) disrupts disassortative odour preferences in women, we compared odour similarity among real couples in which the female partner was using or not using HC at the time when the relationship began. We find that odours of HC-using couples are of intermediate similarity between non-using and fake couples, suggesting that HC use during partner choice could affect odour-influenced assortment. We also examined the association between relationship satisfaction and perceived similarity of unfragranced odours of real couples. We found that these are positively correlated in male partners but negatively correlated in the female partners, indicative of a sex difference in the relative favourability of odour similarity in partner preference. Finally, by comparing odour similarity ratings with those given by perfumers using a novel olfactory lexicon we found evidence that similarity judgements were based on the Spicy/Animalic aspects of individual odour profiles. Taken together, our results challenge the conventional view that odour-mediated partner preferences in humans are typically disassortative.
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50
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Mantel M, Ferdenzi C, Roy JM, Bensafi M. Individual Differences as a Key Factor to Uncover the Neural Underpinnings of Hedonic and Social Functions of Human Olfaction: Current Findings from PET and fMRI Studies and Future Considerations. Brain Topogr 2019; 32:977-986. [PMID: 31564029 DOI: 10.1007/s10548-019-00733-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The hedonic and social dimensions of olfactory perception are characterized by a great diversity across people. Whereas the cerebral processing underlying these aspects of odor perception have been widely explored in the last decades, very few brain imaging studies considered individual differences. This lack of consideration weakens the current models in the field, where the paradigm of universality is the norm. The present review is aimed at examining this issue. Through a synthetic summary, we will first present past studies suggesting that (1) hedonics are represented consistently throughout the olfactory system from primary to secondary areas, with a progressive cognitive modulation and integration with other senses, (2) social dimension of odors may be represented in a distinct pathway involving social and attentional networks. In a second, and more critical part, we will highlight the importance of individual differences for the cerebral study of human olfaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marylou Mantel
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, University Claude Bernard of Lyon, CNRS, INSERM, Lyon, France.
- Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Lyon, France.
- Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, CRNL, CNRS UMR5292 - Inserm U1028 - UCBL, Bâtiment 462 - Neurocampus, 95 boulevard Pinel, 69675, Bron Cedex, France.
| | - Camille Ferdenzi
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, University Claude Bernard of Lyon, CNRS, INSERM, Lyon, France
| | | | - Moustafa Bensafi
- Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, University Claude Bernard of Lyon, CNRS, INSERM, Lyon, France.
- Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, CRNL, CNRS UMR5292 - Inserm U1028 - UCBL, Bâtiment 462 - Neurocampus, 95 boulevard Pinel, 69675, Bron Cedex, France.
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