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Agron S, de March CA, Weissgross R, Mishor E, Gorodisky L, Weiss T, Furman-Haran E, Matsunami H, Sobel N. A chemical signal in human female tears lowers aggression in males. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002442. [PMID: 38127837 PMCID: PMC10734982 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Rodent tears contain social chemosignals with diverse effects, including blocking male aggression. Human tears also contain a chemosignal that lowers male testosterone, but its behavioral significance was unclear. Because reduced testosterone is associated with reduced aggression, we tested the hypothesis that human tears act like rodent tears to block male aggression. Using a standard behavioral paradigm, we found that sniffing emotional tears with no odor percept reduced human male aggression by 43.7%. To probe the peripheral brain substrates of this effect, we applied tears to 62 human olfactory receptors in vitro. We identified 4 receptors that responded in a dose-dependent manner to this stimulus. Finally, to probe the central brain substrates of this effect, we repeated the experiment concurrent with functional brain imaging. We found that sniffing tears increased functional connectivity between the neural substrates of olfaction and aggression, reducing overall levels of neural activity in the latter. Taken together, our results imply that like in rodents, a human tear-bound chemosignal lowers male aggression, a mechanism that likely relies on the structural and functional overlap in the brain substrates of olfaction and aggression. We suggest that tears are a mammalian-wide mechanism that provides a chemical blanket protecting against aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shani Agron
- The Azrieli National Center for Human Brain Imaging and Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- The Department for Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Claire A. de March
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Reut Weissgross
- The Azrieli National Center for Human Brain Imaging and Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- The Department for Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Eva Mishor
- The Azrieli National Center for Human Brain Imaging and Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- The Department for Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Lior Gorodisky
- The Azrieli National Center for Human Brain Imaging and Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- The Department for Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Tali Weiss
- The Azrieli National Center for Human Brain Imaging and Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- The Department for Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Edna Furman-Haran
- The Azrieli National Center for Human Brain Imaging and Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Hiroaki Matsunami
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
- Department of Neurobiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
| | - Noam Sobel
- The Azrieli National Center for Human Brain Imaging and Research, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
- The Department for Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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Kern DW, Kaufmann GT, Hummer TA, Schumm LP, Wroblewski KE, Pinto JM, McClintock MK. Androstadienone sensitivity is associated with attention to emotions, social interactions, and sexual behavior in older U.S. adults. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0280082. [PMID: 36638090 PMCID: PMC9838868 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Δ 4,16-androstadien-3-one (androstadienone) is a putative human pheromone often linked to sexual attraction in young adults, although specific associations with sexual behavior are not yet established. Androstadienone also serves a broader social-emotional function beyond the sexual domain, specifically tuning the brain to efficiently process emotional information. Whether these effects persist throughout the lifespan into post-reproductive life is unknown. In a laboratory study of older adults, those with greater androstadienone odor sensitivity paid greater attention to subliminal emotional information, specifically, angry faces (p = 0.05), with a similar relationship to happy faces. In contrast, the physical odor n-butanol (a control) did not affect emotional attention (p = 0.49). We then extended this laboratory research and determined whether sensitivity to androstadienone affects the everyday lives of older adults by measuring their social and sexual behavior. In this second study, we surveyed in a nationally representative sample of US older adults living in their homes (National Social Life and Aging Project, 62-90 years; n = 2,086), along with their sensitivity to androstadienone, general olfactory function, health and demographics. Greater sensitivity to androstadienone was associated with richer social lives: having more friends, increased communication with close friends and family, and more participation in organized social events and volunteer activities (all p's ≤ 0.05, generalized linear models, adjusted for age and gender). It was also associated with more recent sexual activity, more frequent sexual thoughts, and viewing sex as an important part of life (all p's ≤ 0.05). General olfactory function did not explain these associations, supporting a specialized function for this pheromone during everyday life, and expanding its role to social life as well as sexual behavior, likely mediated by enhanced attention to emotional information.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Kern
- Isidore Newman School, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Gabriel T. Kaufmann
- Pritzker School of Medicine, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Tom A. Hummer
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
| | - L. Philip Schumm
- Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Kristen E. Wroblewski
- Department of Public Health Sciences, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Jayant M. Pinto
- Department of Surgery, Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Martha K. McClintock
- Department of Psychology, The Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Wu Y, Zheng L, Niu C. Androstadienone influences women's perception of happiness and anger on same-sex faces: Preliminary findings. Biol Psychol 2022; 170:108293. [PMID: 35240247 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2021] [Revised: 02/27/2022] [Accepted: 02/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
This study investigated whether androstadienone (AND) influences women's emotional perception of potential mates and rivals in a manner that promotes women's reproductive success. Sixty participants (29 in the fertile phase and 31 in the luteal phase) rated their perception of happiness, sadness, anger and sexual arousal from male and female neutral faces during exposure to AND or control solution on two consecutive days. The results showed that AND led women to perceive neutral female faces as unhappier, regardless of their menstrual cycle phase. In addition, AND led women in the fertile phase (i.e., periovulatory phase) to perceive more anger from neutral female faces. Further, no AND-effects were found on the emotional perception of male faces, nor were there perceptions of the sadness or sexual arousal in female faces. These findings may suggest that AND influences women's cognitive processing that can benefit women from staying away from potential threats or preparing to reduce the costs of intrasexual competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Wu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Lijun Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
| | - Caoyuan Niu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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Abstract
In this review, we describe proposed circuits mediating the mechanism of action of pherines, a new class of synthetic neuroactive steroids with demonstrated antianxiety and antidepressant properties, that engage nasal chemosensory receptors. We hypothesize that afferent signals triggered by activation of these peripheral receptors could reach subgroups of olfactory bulb neurons broadcasting information to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAergic) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons in the limbic amygdala. We propose that chemosensory inputs triggered by pherines project to centrolateral (CeL) and centromedial (CeM) amygdala neurons, with downstream effects mediating behavioral actions. Anxiolytic pherines could activate the forward inhibitory GABAergic neurons that facilitate the release of neuropeptide S (NPS) in the locus coeruleus (LC) and GABA in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and inhibit catecholamine release in the LC and ventral tegmental area (VTA) leading to rapid anxiolytic effect. Alternatively, antidepressant pherines could facilitate the CRH and GABAergic neurons that inhibit the release of NPS from the LC, increase glutamate release from the BNST, and increase norepinephrine (NE), dopamine (DA), and serotonin release from the LC, VTA, and raphe nucleus, respectively. Activation of these neural circuits leads to rapid antidepressant effect. The information provided is consistent with this model, but it should be noted that some steps on these pathways have not been demonstrated conclusively in the human brain.
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Beaton AA, Jones L, Benton D, Richards G. Judgements of attractiveness of the opposite sex and nostril differences in self-rated mood: The effects of androstenol. Biol Psychol 2021; 167:108237. [PMID: 34864067 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Revised: 11/27/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Androstenol has been reported to influence judgements of attractiveness and to affect participants' mood. In the present study, participants were asked to sniff androstenol or a control odour (pure ethanol) unilaterally with the left or right nostril. Subsequently, they rated the attractiveness of photographs of the opposite sex and their own feelings on four mood scales. Participants rated the photographs as significantly more attractive after sniffing androstenol compared with the control odour. This did not depend upon androstenol being perceived as pleasant. Androstenol made male participants feel more lively, and both male and female participants more sexy, when sniffed through the right compared with the left nostril. Participants rated themselves as more irritable and aggressive when exposed to androstenol through the left nostril. The findings are discussed in relation to the effects of arousal on attraction and in the context of current theories of hemispheric differences in emotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan A Beaton
- Department of Psychology, College of Human and Health Sciences, University of Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK; Department of Psychology, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales SY23 3UX, UK.
| | - Lowri Jones
- Department of Psychology, College of Human and Health Sciences, University of Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK
| | - David Benton
- Department of Psychology, College of Human and Health Sciences, University of Swansea, Singleton Park, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK
| | - Gareth Richards
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Dame Margaret Barbour Building, Wallace Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, England NE2 4DR, UK
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Leongómez JD, Sánchez OR, Vásquez-Amézquita M, Roberts SC. Contextualising courtship: Exploring male body odour effects on vocal modulation. Behav Processes 2021; 193:104531. [PMID: 34655713 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Voice characteristics are important to communicate socially relevant information. Recent research has shown that individuals alter their voices depending on the context of social interactions and perceived characteristics of the audience, and this affects how they are perceived. Numerous studies have also shown that the presence of bodily odours can elicit psychological changes in people. Here, we tested whether the presence of male axillary odour would influence vocal modulations in courtship contexts. We analysed differences in vocal parameters and attractiveness ratings across 950 recordings from 80 participants as they responded to opposite-sex target stimuli. Using these, we tested whether men's and women's vocal parameters and perceived stimuli attractiveness differed in the presence or absence of the odour. We expected women to speak with increased voice F0, and men to lower their pitch, when exposed to male body odour, especially if it were of high quality. However, neither the presence of male odour, its quality, nor the addition of androstadienone produced any consistent changes in vocal parameters. Nevertheless, rated stimulus attractiveness was predicted by F0 and especially F0 variability, suggesting that this is a key parameter in signalling attraction during human courtship, and supporting the idea that vocal modulations are context-sensitive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan David Leongómez
- Human Behaviour Lab, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad El Bosque, Bogota 110121, Colombia; Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK.
| | - Oscar R Sánchez
- Human Behaviour Lab, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad El Bosque, Bogota 110121, Colombia.
| | - Milena Vásquez-Amézquita
- Experimental Psychology Lab, Faculty of Psychology, Universidad El Bosque, Bogota 110121, Colombia.
| | - S Craig Roberts
- Division of Psychology, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK.
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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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Oleszkiewicz A, Suhle P, Haehner A, Croy I. Prior exposure to Hedione, a model of pheromone, does not affect female ratings of male facial attractiveness or likeability. Physiol Behav 2021; 238:113458. [PMID: 34033848 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2021.113458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Revised: 04/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
The existence of pheromones in humans is controversial, partly because of definitional difficulties and partly because of the question of possible chemical substances. The synthetic compound Methyl dihydrojasmonate (Hedione) is potent to bind to vomeronasal-type 1 receptors (VN1R1s) and activate limbic areas of the brain in a sex-specific manner. However, one of the most important definitional points for a human pheromone effect has not yet been investigated, i.e., whether smelling Hedione, a model of pheromone, has a behavioral effect. We tested in females whether Hedione leads to altered perception of male social stimuli. Each of the included women were sensitive to Hedione and were tested around the time of ovulation in three consecutive sessions, during each they were exposed to either Hedione or Phenylethyl alcohol or Odorless air. We measured the speed of male face recognition (implicit priming task) and collected ratings of facial attractiveness and likeability of men (explicit task). Only about half of the women tested were sensitive to Hedione. Those women did not show any effect of Hedione exposure in the implicit priming task and moderate, but non-significant effects in the explicit task. We therefore assume that Hedione is not a potent model of pheromone in humans and this observation may be due to the fact that the artificially produced substance is not suited for signaling the proximity of other humans. Furthermore, the high rate of Hedione-specific anosmia leads to the hypothesis that a substantial proportion of individuals has a poor V1NR1 receptor expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Oleszkiewicz
- Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Germany; Institute of Psychology, University of Wroclaw, Poland.
| | - Paulina Suhle
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, TU Dresden, Germany
| | - Antje Haehner
- Smell and Taste Clinic, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, TU Dresden, Germany
| | - Ilona Croy
- Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, TU Dresden, Germany; Department of Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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Ye Y, Lu Z, Zhou W. Pheromone effects on the human hypothalamus in relation to sexual orientation and gender. Handb Clin Neurol 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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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Abstract
Building on a growing body of research suggesting that political attitudes are part of broader individual and biological orientations, we test whether the detection of the hormone androstenone is predictive of political attitudes. The particular social chemical analyzed in this study is androstenone, a nonandrogenic steroid found in the sweat and saliva of many mammals, including humans. A primary reason for scholarly interest in odor detection is that it varies so dramatically from person to person. Using participants' self-reported perceptions of androstenone intensity, together with a battery of survey items testing social and political preferences and orientations, this research supports the idea that perceptions of androstenone intensity relate to political orientations-most notably, preferences for social order-lending further support to theories positing the influence of underlying biological traits on sociopolitical attitudes and behaviors.
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Ferdenzi C, Richard Ortegón S, Delplanque S, Baldovini N, Bensafi M. Interdisciplinary challenges for elucidating human olfactory attractiveness. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190268. [PMID: 32306873 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Many species use chemicals to communicate. In humans, there is increasing evidence that chemicals conveyed by the body are extremely important in interpersonal relationships. However, many aspects of chemical communication remain to be explored to fully understand this function in humans. The aim of this article is to identify relevant challenges in this field, with a focus on human attractiveness in the context of reproduction, and to put forward roadmaps for future studies that will hopefully extend to a wider range of social interactions. The first challenge consists in not being limited to body (mal)odours from the axilla. Preliminary data on how the odour of the face and head is perceived are presented. Second, there is a crucial need to increase our knowledge of the chemical bases of human chemical communication. Third, cross-cultural approaches must not be overlooked, because they have a major input in understanding the universal and culture-specific aspects of chemical communication. Fourth, the influence of specific cultural practices such as contraceptive and fragrance use is likely to be prominent and, therefore, needs to be well described. The fifth and last challenge for research projects in this field is the integration of different disciplines such as behavioural sciences, social sciences, neurosciences and microbiology. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Olfactory communication in humans'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Ferdenzi
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, F-69675 Bron Cedex, France
| | - Stéphane Richard Ortegón
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, F-69675 Bron Cedex, France
| | - Sylvain Delplanque
- Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, University of Geneva, CH-1202 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Nicolas Baldovini
- Institut de Chimie de Nice, CNRS UMR 7272, Université Côte d'Azur, F-06108 Nice, France
| | - Moustafa Bensafi
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, F-69675 Bron Cedex, France
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Niu C, Zheng L. Androstadienone resulted in a rightward shift of women's preference for sexually dimorphic male faces across the continuum of femininity-masculinity. Horm Behav 2020; 118:104635. [PMID: 31765659 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2019] [Revised: 11/06/2019] [Accepted: 11/07/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
As a derivative of testosterone, androstadienone (AND) can influence human psychological and physiological states. To explore the influence of AND on women's preferences for male sexual dimorphic faces in a mate-choice context, we asked 52 females in the luteal phase to choose one from four sexual dimorphic male faces in a long-term and short-term context while inhaling 250 μm of AND or a placebo odor on two consecutive days. Results revealed that participants had a greater and lesser preference for the +30% masculinized and 60% feminized faces, respectively, while inhaling AND, as compared to when inhaling the placebo. The AND intervention resulted in a rightward shift of the women's preference for male sexual dimorphic faces across the continuum of femininity-masculinity. The current findings highlight that AND may influence women's preference for male sexually dimorphic faces in a mate-choice context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caoyuan Niu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Lijun Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (Ministry of Education), Southwest University, Chongqing, China; Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China.
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Popov SV, Kamchatnov PR, Sturov NV, Bogdanets SA. [Modern studies of the role of the vomeronasal system in the perception of pheromones and their impact on social and sexual behavior]. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova 2020; 119:143-147. [PMID: 31994528 DOI: 10.17116/jnevro2019119121143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The vomeronasal system (VNS) provides regulation of a wide range of autonomic and affective functions, behavioral reactions in response to the specific chemical stimuli pheromones secreted by mammals, including humans. The results of experimental studies confirming the existence of VNS and explaining the basic mechanisms of its functioning are presented. The results of studies of healthy volunteers, explaining the effect of pheromones on a number of functions of the human body, are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- S V Popov
- Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia
| | - P R Kamchatnov
- Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - N V Sturov
- Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Moscow, Russia
| | - S A Bogdanets
- Medical Center Yuzhnyy 'Vascular clinic', Moscow, Russia
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15
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Hughes SM, Harrison MA, de Haan KM. Perceived Nervous Reactions during Initial Attraction and Their Potential Adaptive Value. Adaptive Human Behavior and Physiology 2020; 6:30-56. [DOI: 10.1007/s40750-019-00127-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
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16
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White TL, Thomas-danguin T, Olofsson JK, Zucco GM, Prescott J. Thought for food: Cognitive influences on chemosensory perceptions and preferences. Food Qual Prefer 2020; 79:103776. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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17
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Cherry JA, Baum MJ. Sex differences in main olfactory system pathways involved in psychosexual function. Genes Brain Behav 2019; 19:e12618. [PMID: 31634411 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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18
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Ferdenzi C, Razafindrazaka H, Baldovini N, Poupon D, Pierron D, Bensafi M. Influence of gender and culture on the perception of acidic compounds of human body odor. Physiol Behav 2019; 210:112561. [PMID: 31178171 DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.112561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 05/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
There is increasing evidence that human body odor is involved in interpersonal communication. However, among the wide variety of substances excreted by the human body that might act as chemosignals, much attention has been granted to androstenes to the detriment of other categories. Here, we focused on the acidic fraction of human body odor. We investigated men and women's perceptual descriptions and detection thresholds of the sexually dimorphic (male) compound 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid (HMHA) in two contrasted cultures, France and Madagascar. Perceptual responses to HMHA in both countries were very similar. HMHA proved to be more typical of body odor than another chemically-related major compound of human body odor 3MHA (3-methylhex-2-enoic acid also known as 3M2H). A significant portion of the samples studied (between 8 and 19%) was likely to be anosmic to HMHA (and to 3MHA: 25%). Although differences would be expected between men and women's perceptual responses to HMHA, based on the assumption that this compound would have a function in human partner choice, no sex differences were found for any of the perceptual variables. However, in Malagasy women, perceived intensity of HMHA was higher in participants who were in the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Whether HMHA is relevant in the perception of a potential partner thus requires further explorations, with more implicit approaches for example and/or by investigating the repercussions of HMHA specific anosmia on interpersonal relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Ferdenzi
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, 95 bd Pinel, 69675 Bron Cedex, France.
| | - Harilanto Razafindrazaka
- Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse, CNRS UMR 5288, Université Toulouse 3, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse Cedex 3, France; Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, EFS, ADES, Marseille, France; Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, 21 allée de Brienne, 31015 Cedex 6, Toulouse, France
| | - Nicolas Baldovini
- Institut de Chimie de Nice, CNRS UMR 7272, Université de Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Parc Valrose, 28 avenue Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
| | - Daphnée Poupon
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, 95 bd Pinel, 69675 Bron Cedex, France
| | - Denis Pierron
- Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse, CNRS UMR 5288, Université Toulouse 3, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse Cedex 3, France
| | - Moustafa Bensafi
- Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, CNRS UMR 5292, INSERM U1028, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Centre Hospitalier Le Vinatier, 95 bd Pinel, 69675 Bron Cedex, France
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Oren C, Peled-Avron L, Shamay-Tsoory SG. A scent of romance: human putative pheromone affects men's sexual cognition. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2019; 14:719-726. [PMID: 31309986 PMCID: PMC6778825 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2018] [Revised: 05/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that the putative human pheromone estratetraenol affects several systems underlying human functioning and appears to activate neural systems that are known to affect sexual behavior. In this study, we investigated whether exposure to estratetraenol affects men's social cognition abilities. In the first experiment, men performed the Interpersonal Perception task while being exposed to estratetraenol and to a control solution. Men performed the task with better accuracy while being exposed to estratetraenol. This improvement was evident especially in the Intimacy category where participants evaluated romantic relationships. In a second experiment, we exposed a different sample of men to estratetraenol and to a control solution while performing a task that implicitly measured their emotional reaction to photos depicting two humans either romantically touching or not, with a control condition of two inanimate objects either touching or not. We found that the participants' emotional reaction to touch was stronger under exposure to estratetraenol. Together, these results suggest that exposure to estratetraenol may trigger a change in men's social cognition, especially in sexually related situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Oren
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Leehe Peled-Avron
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
| | - Simone G Shamay-Tsoory
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave, Mount Carmel, Haifa 3498838, Israel
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20
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Singh PB, Young A, Lind S, Leegaard MC, Capuozzo A, Parma V. Smelling Anxiety Chemosignals Impairs Clinical Performance of Dental Students. Chem Senses 2019; 43:411-417. [PMID: 29767685 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjy028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the fact that human body odors can transfer anxiety-related signals, the impact of such signals in real-life situations is scant. In this study, the effects of anxiety chemosignals on the performance of dental students operating on simulation units, wearing T-shirts imbued with human sweat and masked with eugenol were tested. A total of 24 fourth-year dental students (17 F) donated their body odors in two sessions (Anxiety and Rest). Twenty-four normosmic, sex- and age-matched test subjects who were third-year dental students performed 3 dental procedures while smelling masked anxiety body odors, masked rest body odors, or masker alone. The intensity and pleasantness ratings showed that the test subjects could not report perceptual differences between the odor conditions. When exposed to masked anxiety body odors, the test subjects' dental performance was significantly worse than when they were exposed to masked rest body odors and masker alone, indicating that their performance was modulated by exposure to the emotional tone of the odor. These findings call for a careful evaluation of the anxiety-inducing effects of body odors in performance-related tasks and provide the first ecological evaluation of human anxiety chemosignal communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Preet Bano Singh
- Institute of Clinical Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Alix Young
- Institute of Clinical Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Synnøve Lind
- Institute of Clinical Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | | | - Alessandra Capuozzo
- Department of Neuroscience Area, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy
| | - Valentina Parma
- Department of Neuroscience Area, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy.,Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,William James Research Center (WJCR), Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA), Lisbon, Portugal
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21
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Cecchetto C, Lancini E, Bueti D, Rumiati RI, Parma V. Body odors (even when masked) make you more emotional: behavioral and neural insights. Sci Rep 2019; 9:5489. [PMID: 30940875 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41937-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Morality evolved within specific social contexts that are argued to shape moral choices. In turn, moral choices are hypothesized to be affected by body odors as they powerfully convey socially-relevant information. We thus investigated the neural underpinnings of the possible body odors effect on the participants’ decisions. In an fMRI study we presented to healthy individuals 64 moral dilemmas divided in incongruent (real) and congruent (fake) moral dilemmas, using different types of harm (intentional: instrumental dilemmas, or inadvertent: accidental dilemmas). Participants were required to choose deontological or utilitarian actions under the exposure to a neutral fragrance (masker) or body odors concealed by the same masker (masked body odor). Smelling the masked body odor while processing incongruent (not congruent) dilemmas activates the supramarginal gyrus, consistent with an increase in prosocial attitude. When processing accidental (not instrumental) dilemmas, smelling the masked body odor activates the angular gyrus, an area associated with the processing of people’s presence, supporting the hypothesis that body odors enhance the saliency of the social context in moral scenarios. These results suggest that masked body odors can influence moral choices by increasing the emotional experience during the decision process, and further explain how sensory unconscious biases affect human behavior.
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22
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Banner A, Gabay S, Shamay-Tsoory S. Androstadienone, a putative chemosignal of dominance, increases gaze avoidance among men with high social anxiety. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2019; 102:9-15. [PMID: 30481725 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.11.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Revised: 11/16/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Socially anxious individuals show increased sensitivity toward social threat signals, including cues of dominance. This sensitivity may account for the hypervigilance and gaze avoidance commonly reported in individuals with social anxiety. This study examines visual scanning behavior in response to androstadienone (androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one), a putative chemosignal of dominance. We tested whether exposure to androstadienone would increase hypervigilance and gaze avoidance among individuals with high social anxiety. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject design, 26 participants with high social anxiety and 26 with low social anxiety were exposed to androstadienone and a control solution on two separate days. On each day, an eye-tracker recorded their spontaneous scanning behavior while they viewed facial images of men depicting dominant and neutral poses. The results indicate that among participants with high social anxiety, androstadienone increased gaze avoidance by reducing the percentage of fixations made to the eye-region and the total amount of time spent gazing at the eye-region of the faces. Participants with low social anxiety did not show this effect. These findings indicate that androstadienone serves as a threatening chemosignal of dominance, further supporting the link between hypersensitivity toward social threat cues and the perpetuation of social anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Banner
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, Israel.
| | - S Gabay
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, Israel; The Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, Israel
| | - S Shamay-Tsoory
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, Israel
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Banner A, Frumin I, Shamay-Tsoory SG. Androstadienone, a Chemosignal Found in Human Sweat, Increases Individualistic Behavior and Decreases Cooperative Responses in Men. Chem Senses 2019; 43:189-196. [PMID: 29390162 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjy002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing body of evidence suggests that humans can communicate socially relevant information, such as aggression, dominance, and readiness for competition, through chemosensory signals. Androstadienone (androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one), a testosterone-derived compound found in men's axillary sweat, is a main candidate for a human pheromone that may convey such information. The current study aimed to investigate whether androstadienone serves as a chemosignaling threat cue to men, thus triggering avoidance behavior during competitive interaction with another man. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject study design, 30 healthy, normosmic, heterosexual male participants completed the social orientation paradigm (SOP), a monetary game played against a fictitious partner that allows 3 types of responses to be measured in the context of provocation: an aggressive response, an individualistic withdrawal response, and a cooperative response. Participants completed the SOP task twice, once under exposure to androstadienone and once under exposure to a control solution. The results indicate that androstadienone increased individualistic responses while it decreased cooperative responses. These findings support the role of androstadienone as a threatening signal of dominance that elicits behavioral avoidance and social withdrawal tendencies, possibly as a submissive response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Banner
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
| | - Idan Frumin
- Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.,Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA
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Hornung J, Noack H, Kogler L, Derntl B. Exploring the fMRI based neural correlates of the dot probe task and its modulation by sex and body odor. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2019; 99:87-96. [PMID: 30216766 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.08.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2018] [Revised: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 08/28/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The dot probe task implicitly cues attention via emotional information, an effect which is especially pronounced for threat-related cues. However, several questions remain unexplored. The first one is whether chemosignals like the androgen-derivative androstadienone can influence such attentional biases. Second, few studies have addressed sex differences regarding attentional biases. Finally, the neural correlates of these potential behavioral effects based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are not known. In two experiments we aimed to answer these questions. A total of 159 healthy individuals (58 oral-contraceptive-users, 42 luteal women, 59 men) were tested. In experiment 1 (behavioral study) we examined attentional biases behaviorally, while in experiment 2 (fMRI study) the dot probe task was complemented by fMRI. Our results provide robust evidence that in healthy participants fearful but not angry or happy faces lead to a strong general attentional bias. Elucidating the neural basis of this effects points to an early processing advantage in bilateral thalamus for valid compared to invalid cued fear. However, this finding was limited to those participants with the strongest attentional biases and was not linked to behavioral measures. Furthermore, no consistent sex or group differences existed neither did the putative human chemosignal androstadienone reliably modulate attentional biases or change neural processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Hornung
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Hannes Noack
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Lead Graduate School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Lydia Kogler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Lead Graduate School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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25
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Banner A, Shamay-Tsoory S. Effects of androstadienone on dominance perception in males with low and high social anxiety. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2018; 95:138-144. [PMID: 29859341 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.05.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2018] [Revised: 05/23/2018] [Accepted: 05/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Increasing evidence suggests that humans can communicate both trait-dominance and state-dominance via body odor. Androstadienone (androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one), a chemosignal found in human sweat, seems to be a likely candidate for signaling dominance in humans. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of androstadienone on the perception of social dominance. Moreover, we examined whether high levels of social anxiety, a psychopathology involving concerns that specifically pertain to social dominance, are associated with increased sensitivity to androstadienone as a chemical cue of dominance. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, within-subject design, 64 heterosexual male participants (32 with high social anxiety and 32 with low social anxiety) viewed facial images of males depicting dominant, neutral and submissive postures, and were asked to recognize and rate the dominance expressed in those images. Participants completed the task twice, once under exposure to androstadienone and once under exposure to a control solution. The results indicate that androstadienone increased the perceived dominance of men's faces, specifically among participants with high social anxiety. These findings suggest a direct influence of androstadienone on dominance perception and further highlight the preferential processing of dominance and social threat signals evident in social anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Banner
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, Israel.
| | - Simone Shamay-Tsoory
- Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Abba Khoushy Ave 199, Haifa, Israel
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26
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Marcinkowska UM, Jasienska G, Prokop P. A Comparison of Masculinity Facial Preference Among Naturally Cycling, Pregnant, Lactating, and Post-Menopausal Women. Arch Sex Behav 2018; 47:1367-1374. [PMID: 29071543 PMCID: PMC5954065 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-017-1093-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2016] [Revised: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 10/03/2017] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Women show cyclical shifts in preferences for physical male traits. Here we investigated how fertility status influences women's facial masculinity preference in men by analyzing a large sample of heterosexual women (N = 3720). Women were regularly either cycling (in both low- and high-conception probability groups), lactating or were currently in a non-fertile state (pregnant or post-menopausal). Analyses simultaneously controlled for women's age and sexual openness. Participants via two alternative forced choice questions judged attractiveness of masculinized and feminized men's faces. After controlling for the effect of age and sociosexuality, regularly cycling and pregnant women showed a stronger preference for masculinity than lactating and post-menopausal women. However, there was no significant difference in masculinity preference between women in the low- and high-conception probability groups. Women's sociosexuality showed a positive, but very weak association with men's facial masculinity preference. We suggest that women's overall, long-term hormonal state (cycling, post-menopausal) is a stronger predictor of preference for sexual dimorphism than changes in hormonal levels through the cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Urszula M Marcinkowska
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-531, Cracow, Poland.
| | - Grazyna Jasienska
- Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 31-531, Cracow, Poland
| | - Pavol Prokop
- Faculty of Education, Trnava University, Trnava, Slovakia
- Institute of Zoology, Bratislava, Slovakia
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Hornung J, Kogler L, Erb M, Freiherr J, Derntl B. The human body odor compound androstadienone increases neural conflict coupled to higher behavioral costs during an emotional Stroop task. Neuroimage 2018; 171:364-75. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.01.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Revised: 11/22/2017] [Accepted: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
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28
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Hornung J, Noack H, Thomas M, Farger G, Nieratschker V, Freiherr J, Derntl B. Bayesian informed evidence against modulation of androstadienone-effects by genotypic receptor variants and participant sex: A study assessing Stroop interference control, mood and olfaction. Horm Behav 2018; 98:45-54. [PMID: 29246659 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2017.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2017] [Revised: 11/29/2017] [Accepted: 12/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The androgen derivative androstadienone (AND) is present in human sweat and may act as human chemosignal. Though effects of AND have been reported with respect to emotional and cognitive processes, results have been highly inconsistent. For this reason, it is likely that AND-action is dependent on modulatory factors. Here we wanted to specifically investigate the impact of genotypic variations of the AND-receptor OR7D4, as well as the influence of participant sex and concomitant hormonal fluctuations on AND-action during emotional interference processing, olfactory performance and mood assessments. To this end 80 healthy individuals (women taking oral contraceptives; naturally cycling women measured during the luteal phase and men) were tested twice on two consecutive days (AND vs. placebo exposure) with an emotional Stroop task. Also, olfactory performance and mood was assessed. Participants provided saliva samples to measure testosterone, progesterone and estradiol and a blood sample to assess genotypic variations of the AND-receptor OR7D4. We found a small task-dependent reduction of overall error rates under AND but no modulation of effects by genetic variation or group (female OC, female NC, male) with respect to olfactory performance and mood. Additional analyses with help of Bayesian statistics gave strong evidence in favor of specific null hypotheses suggesting that the action of AND was not modulated by either genotypic variations or sex of participants with respect to interference control (bias indices), olfactory self-reports and mood parameters. Additional effects of AND in connection with hormonal fluctuations are reported.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Hornung
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Hannes Noack
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Lead Graduate School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Mara Thomas
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Gisbert Farger
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Vanessa Nieratschker
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jessica Freiherr
- Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Universitätsklinikum RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany; Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Freising, Germany
| | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany; Lead Graduate School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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d'Ettorre P, Bueno S, Rödel HG, Megherbi H, Seigneuric A, Schaal B, Roberts SC. Exposure to Androstenes Influences Processing of Emotional Words. Front Ecol Evol 2018. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2017.00169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
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Hornung J, Kogler L, Wolpert S, Freiherr J, Derntl B. The human body odor compound androstadienone leads to anger-dependent effects in an emotional Stroop but not dot-probe task using human faces. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0175055. [PMID: 28369152 PMCID: PMC5378404 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2016] [Accepted: 03/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The androgen derivative androstadienone is a substance found in human sweat and thus is a putative human chemosignal. Androstadienone has been studied with respect to effects on mood states, attractiveness ratings, physiological and neural activation. With the current experiment, we aimed to explore in which way androstadienone affects attention to social cues (human faces). Moreover, we wanted to test whether effects depend on specific emotions, the participants' sex and individual sensitivity to smell androstadienone. To do so, we investigated 56 healthy individuals (thereof 29 females taking oral contraceptives) with two attention tasks on two consecutive days (once under androstadienone, once under placebo exposure in pseudorandomized order). With an emotional dot-probe task we measured visuo-spatial cueing while an emotional Stroop task allowed us to investigate interference control. Our results suggest that androstadienone acts in a sex, task and emotion-specific manner as a reduction in interference processes in the emotional Stroop task was only apparent for angry faces in men under androstadienone exposure. More specifically, men showed a smaller difference in reaction times for congruent compared to incongruent trials. At the same time also women were slightly affected by smelling androstadienone as they classified angry faces more often correctly under androstadienone. For the emotional dot-probe task no modulation by androstadienone was observed. Furthermore, in both attention paradigms individual sensitivity to androstadienone was neither correlated with reaction times nor error rates in men and women. To conclude, exposure to androstadienone seems to potentiate the relevance of angry faces in both men and women in connection with interference control, while processes of visuo-spatial cueing remain unaffected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Hornung
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Lydia Kogler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Stephan Wolpert
- Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jessica Freiherr
- Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Universitätsklinikum RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany
- Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, Freising, Germany
| | - Birgit Derntl
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Lead Graduate School, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Henningsson S, Hovey D, Vass K, Walum H, Sandnabba K, Santtila P, Jern P, Westberg L. A missense polymorphism in the putative pheromone receptor gene VN1R1 is associated with sociosexual behavior. Transl Psychiatry 2017; 7:e1102. [PMID: 28440809 DOI: 10.1038/tp.2017.70] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2016] [Revised: 01/09/2017] [Accepted: 02/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Pheromones regulate social and reproductive behavior in most mammalian species. These effects are mediated by the vomeronasal and main olfactory systems. Effects of putative pheromones on human neuroendocrine activity, brain activity and attractiveness ratings suggest that humans may communicate via similar chemosignaling. Here we studied two samples of younger and older individuals, respectively, with respect to one nonsynonymous polymorphism in the gene encoding the human vomeronasal type-1 receptor 1, VN1R1, and one nonsynonymous polymorphism in the gene encoding the olfactory receptor OR7D4. Participants in both samples had self-reported their sociosexual behavior using the sociosexual orientation inventory, including questions regarding lifetime number of one-night stands, number of partners last year and expected number of partners the coming 5 years. In women, there was a significant association between the VN1R1 polymorphism and sociosexual behavior in both samples, driven specifically by the question regarding one-night stands. Our results support the hypothesis that human social interaction is modulated by communication via chemosignaling.
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Hare RM, Schlatter S, Rhodes G, Simmons LW. Putative sex-specific human pheromones do not affect gender perception, attractiveness ratings or unfaithfulness judgements of opposite sex faces. R Soc Open Sci 2017; 4:160831. [PMID: 28405372 PMCID: PMC5383829 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2016] [Accepted: 02/02/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Debate continues over the existence of human sex pheromones. Two substances, androstadienone (AND) and estratetraenol (EST), were recently reported to signal male and female gender, respectively, potentially qualifying them as human sex pheromones. If AND and EST truly signal gender, then they should affect reproductively relevant behaviours such as mate perception. To test this hypothesis, heterosexual, Caucasian human participants completed two computer-based tasks twice, on two consecutive days, exposed to a control scent on one day and a putative pheromone (AND or EST) on the other. In the first task, 46 participants (24 male, 22 female) indicated the gender (male or female) of five gender-neutral facial morphs. Exposure to AND or EST had no effect on gender perception. In the second task, 94 participants (43 male, 51 female) rated photographs of opposite-sex faces for attractiveness and probable sexual unfaithfulness. Exposure to the putative pheromones had no effect on either attractiveness or unfaithfulness ratings. These results are consistent with those of other experimental studies and reviews that suggest AND and EST are unlikely to be human pheromones. The double-blind nature of the current study lends increased support to this conclusion. If human sex pheromones affect our judgements of gender, attractiveness or unfaithfulness from faces, they are unlikely to be AND or EST.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin M. Hare
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Sophie Schlatter
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Gillian Rhodes
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Leigh W. Simmons
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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Hummer TA, Phan KL, Kern DW, McClintock MK. A human chemosignal modulates frontolimbic activity and connectivity in response to emotional stimuli. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2017; 75:15-25. [PMID: 27768980 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.09.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2016] [Revised: 09/23/2016] [Accepted: 09/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Evidence suggests the putative human pheromone Δ4,16-androstadien-3-one (androstadienone), a natural component of human sweat, increases attention to emotional information when passively inhaled, even in minute amounts. However, the neural mechanisms underlying androstadienone's impact on the perception of emotional stimuli have not been clarified. To characterize how the compound modifies neural circuitry while attending to emotional information, 22 subjects (11 women) underwent two fMRI scanning sessions, one with an androstadienone solution and one with a carrier control solution alone on their upper lip. During each session, participants viewed blocks of emotionally positive, negative, or neutral images. The BOLD response to emotional images (relative to neutral images) was greater during exposure to androstadienone in right orbitofrontal and lateral prefrontal cortex, particularly during positive image blocks. Androstadienone did not impact the response to social images, compared to nonsocial images, and results were not related to participant sex or olfactory sensitivity. To examine how androstadienone influences effective connectivity of this network, a dynamic causal model was employed with primary visual cortex (V1), amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex on each side. These models indicated that emotional images increased the drive from V1 to the amygdala during the control session. With androstadienone present, this drive to amygdala was decreased specifically for positive images, which drove downstream increases in orbitofrontal and prefrontal activity. This evidence suggests that androstadienone may act as a chemical signal to increase attention to positively valenced information via modifications to amygdala connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom A Hummer
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, United States.
| | - K Luan Phan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago and Mental Health Service Line, Jesse Brown VA, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - David W Kern
- Institute for Mind and Biology and Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago, United States
| | - Martha K McClintock
- Institute for Mind and Biology and Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago, United States; Department of Psychology, The University of Chicago, United States
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Kavaliers M, Matta R, Choleris E. Mate-choice copying, social information processing, and the roles of oxytocin. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 72:232-42. [PMID: 27923732 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2016] [Revised: 11/23/2016] [Accepted: 12/01/2016] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Social and sexual behaviors, including that of mate choice, are dependent on social information. Mate choice can be modified by prior and ongoing social factors and experience. The mate choice decisions of one individual can be influenced by either the actual or potential mate choice of another female or male. Such non-independent mate choice, where individuals gain social information and socially learn about and recognizes potential mates by observing the choices of another female or male, has been termed "mate-choice copying". Here we first briefly review how, why, and under what circumstances individuals engage in mate-choice copying. Secondly, we review the neurobiological mechanisms underlying mate-choice copying. In particular, we consider the roles of the nonapeptide, oxytocin, in the processing of social information and the expression of mate-choice copying.
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Ferdenzi C, Rouby C, Bensafi M. The Social Nose: Importance of Olfactory Perception in Group Dynamics and Relationships. Psychological Inquiry 2016. [DOI: 10.1080/1047840x.2016.1215207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Abstract
Putative human chemosignals have been shown to influence mood states and emotional processing, but the connection between these effects and higher-order cognitive processing is not well established. This study utilized an economic game (Dictator Game) to test whether androstadienone (AND), an odorous compound derived from testosterone, impacts on altruistic behavior. We predicted that the female participants would act more generously in the AND condition, exhibiting a significant interaction effect between gender and AND on Dictator Game contributions. We also expected that the presence of AND should increase the positive mood of the female participants, compared to a control odor condition and also compared to the mood of the male participants. The results confirm our hypotheses: for women the subliminal perception of AND led to larger monetary donations, compared to a control odor, and also increased positive mood. These effects were absent or significantly weaker in men. Our findings highlight the capacity of human putative chemosignals to influence emotions and higher cognitive processes - in particular the processes used in the context of economic decisions - in a gender-specific way.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentina Perrotta
- Department of Knowledge, Autonomous Province of Trento, via Gilli, 3, I-38122 Trento TN, Italy
| | - Michele Graffeo
- Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento, Via Inama 5, I-38122 Trento, Italy
| | - Nicolao Bonini
- Department of Economics and Management, University of Trento, Via Inama 5, I-38122 Trento, Italy
| | - Jay A Gottfried
- Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA
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Abstract
Olfaction enables most mammalian species to detect and discriminate vast numbers of chemical structures called odorants and pheromones. The perception of such chemical compounds is mediated via two major olfactory systems, the main olfactory system and the vomeronasal system, as well as minor systems, such as the septal organ and the Grueneberg ganglion. Distinct differences exist not only among species but also among individuals in terms of their olfactory sensitivity; however, little is known about the mechanisms that determine these differences. In research on the olfactory sensitivity of mammals, scientists thus depend in most cases on behavioral testing. In this article, we reviewed scientific studies performed on various mammalian species using different methodologies and target chemical substances. Human and non-human primates as well as rodents and dogs are the most frequently studied species. Olfactory threshold studies on other species do not exist with the exception of domestic pigs. Olfactory testing performed on seals, elephants, and bats focused more on discriminative abilities than on sensitivity. An overview of olfactory sensitivity studies as well as olfactory detection ability in most studied mammalian species is presented here, focusing on comparable olfactory detection thresholds. The basics of olfactory perception and olfactory sensitivity factors are also described.
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Abstract
In a study by Gelstein et al., we found that human emotional tears act as a social chemosignal. In the first of three different experiments in that study we observed that sniffing women’s emotional tears reduced the sexual attractiveness attributed by men to pictures of women’s faces. In a study partly titled “Chemosignaling effects of human tears revisited”, Gračanin et al. claim failed replication of this effect in a series of experiments, one they described as “exactly the same procedure” as Gelstein. Given that Gračanin et al. refused our extended offer to jointly replicate the experiment at our expense, we can merely comment on their effort. We find that Gračanin, who are not a chemosignaling laboratory, used methodology that falls short of standards typically applied in chemosignaling research. Thus, their experiments were profoundly different from Gelstein. Finally, we found that in reanalysing their raw data we could in fact replicate the effect from Gelstein. Thus, we conclude that the failed replication in Gračanin is neither a replication nor failed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noam Sobel
- a Department of Neurobiology , Weizmann Institute of Science , Rehovot , Israel
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Ferdenzi C, Delplanque S, Atanassova R, Sander D. Androstadienone's influence on the perception of facial and vocal attractiveness is not sex specific. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2016; 66:166-75. [PMID: 26827295 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.01.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2015] [Revised: 01/15/2016] [Accepted: 01/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
The androgen steroid androstadienone, an odorous compound emitted from the human axillary region, has recurrently been considered as a candidate compound involved in human chemical communication and mate choice. Although perception of androstadienone has been shown to influence several affective (mood), attentional, physiological and neural parameters, studies investigating its impact on human attractiveness remain unpersuasive because of incomplete designs (e.g., only female participants) and contradictory results. The aim of this study was to investigate how androstadienone may influence others' attractiveness. Specifically, we used a complete design (male and female raters, male and female faces and voices) to determine whether androstadienone influences the perception of social stimuli in a sex-specific manner, which would favor pheromonal-like properties of the compound, or in a more general manner, which would suggest that the compound has broader influences on human psychological responses. After comparing the ratings of men and women who were exposed to androstadienone masked in clove oil with those of men and women who were exposed to clove oil alone, we found that androstadienone enhanced the perceived attractiveness of emotionally relevant stimuli (opposite-sex stimuli in men and in fertile women). Response times for categorizing the stimuli as attractive or not were also affected by androstadienone, with longer response times in men and in fertile women and shorter response times in non-fertile women, irrespective of the stimulus sex. The results favor the hypothesis of general effects over sex-specific effects of androstadienone, thus questioning the relevance of focusing on that particular compound in the study of human attractiveness through body odor and encouraging the search for other semiochemicals that might be significant for human mate choice.
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Abstract
Species are fundamental units of comparison in biology. The newly discovered importance and ubiquity of host-associated microorganisms are now stimulating work on the roles that microbes can play in animal speciation. We previously synthesized the literature and advanced concepts of speciation by symbiosis with notable attention to hybrid sterility and lethality. Here, we review recent studies and relevant data on microbes as players in host behavior and behavioral isolation, emphasizing the patterns seen in these analyses and highlighting areas worthy of additional exploration. We conclude that the role of microbial symbionts in behavior and speciation is gaining exciting traction and that the holobiont and hologenome concepts afford an evolving intellectual framework to promote research and intellectual exchange between disciplines such as behavior, microbiology, genetics, symbiosis, and speciation. Given the increasing centrality of microbiology in macroscopic life, microbial symbiosis is arguably the most neglected aspect of animal and plant speciation, and studying it should yield a better understanding of the origin of species.
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Merker B. Conscious olfaction: Content, function, and localization. Behav Brain Sci 2016; 39:e188. [DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x15002186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe target article's emphasis on olfaction is a welcome reminder of the multimodal nature of conscious experience. Here, I explore the distinctive and even unique attributes of our sense of smell from the point of view of their bearing on and fit with a subcortical locus of sensory experience.
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Baum MJ, Cherry JA. Processing by the main olfactory system of chemosignals that facilitate mammalian reproduction. Horm Behav 2015; 68:53-64. [PMID: 24929017 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2014.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2014] [Revised: 05/22/2014] [Accepted: 06/04/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
This article is part of a Special Issue "Chemosignals and Reproduction". Most mammalian species possess two parallel circuits that process olfactory information. One of these circuits, the accessory system, originates with sensory neurons in the vomeronasal organ (VNO). This system has long been known to detect non-volatile pheromonal odorants from conspecifics that influence numerous aspects of social communication, including sexual attraction and mating as well as the release of luteinizing hormone from the pituitary gland. A second circuit, the main olfactory system, originates with sensory neurons in the main olfactory epithelium (MOE). This system detects a wide range of non-pheromonal odors relevant to survival (e.g., food and predator odors). Over the past decade evidence has accrued showing that the main olfactory system also detects a range of volatile odorants that function as pheromones to facilitate mate recognition and activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal neuroendocrine axis. We review early studies as well as the new literature supporting the view that the main olfactory system processes a variety of different pheromonal cues that facilitate mammalian reproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Baum
- Departments of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
| | - James A Cherry
- Departments of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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Kern DW, Wroblewski KE, Schumm LP, Pinto JM, Chen RC, McClintock MK. Olfactory function in Wave 2 of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 2015; 69 Suppl 2:S134-43. [PMID: 25360014 DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbu093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To investigate the sense of smell, including sensitivity and odor identification, and characterize the U.S. national prevalence of olfactory dysfunction in older adults, thereby facilitating further investigation of the substantial risks for older adults associated with this basic sensory ability. METHOD The sense of smell was evaluated using the Olfactory Function Field Exam (OFFE), a measure designed specifically for field research, which assesses 3 components of olfaction: sensitivity to n-butanol (a standard testing odorant) and androstadienone (AND, a key social odor produced by humans), as well as the ability to identify odors. Respondents were randomly selected from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project Wave 2 sample to receive the OFFE (n = 2,304), and 2,212 consented to participate. RESULTS In the U.S. population aged 62-90, n-butanol detection ability was significantly worse at older ages (ordinal logistic regression, p < .001); however, there was no difference in detection ability between genders (p = .60). AND detection ability was also significantly worse at older ages (p = .003), but in contrast to n-butanol, women outperformed men (p = .001). As expected, odor identification ability was worse in older people than in younger (p < .001), and women were more accurate than men (p = .001). DISCUSSION We report for the first time 3 facets of olfactory function and its association with age and gender in a representative sample of U.S. older adults. Future analyses of these data are needed to elucidate the sense of smell's role in physical, social, and mental health with aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W Kern
- Department of Comparative Human Development, Institute for Mind and Biology,
| | | | | | - Jayant M Pinto
- Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery
| | | | - Martha K McClintock
- Department of Comparative Human Development, Institute for Mind and Biology, Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Illinois
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Martinec Nováková L, Havlíček J, Roberts SC. Olfactory processing and odor specificity: a meta-analysis of menstrual cycle variation in olfactory sensitivity. Anthropological Review 2014; 77:331-45. [DOI: 10.2478/anre-2014-0024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Cycle-correlated variation in olfactory threshold, with women becoming more sensitive to odors mid-cycle, is somewhat supported by the literature but the evidence is not entirely consistent, with several studies finding no, or mixed, effects. It has been argued that cyclic shifts in olfactory threshold might be limited to odors relevant to the mating context.
We aimed to test whether the evidence currently available points in the direction of odor-specific or, rather, general changes in olfactory sensitivity and, if the former is the case, to what group of odorants in particular. We carried out a meta-analysis of relevant studies which together used a variety of different odorants, including some found in food, body odor, and some that occur in neither of these. First we tested whether there appears to be an overall effect when all studies are included. Next, we hypothesised that if cyclic changes in olfactory processing are odor-specific and tuned to biologically relevant odors, we should find changes in detection thresholds only for odorants found in body odor, or for those that are perceptually similar to it. In contrast, if threshold patterns are linked to more general fluctuations in odor processing across the cycle, we would not expect changes in relation to any particular odorant group.
The results support the view that there is significant cycle-correlated variation. Thresholds were in general significantly lower in the fertile than the non-fertile phases, with effect sizes consistently in this direction. This same conclusion applied to both ‘food’ and ‘musky’ odorants, despite their different evolutionary significance, and to the androgen steroids (androstadienone, androstenone, and androsterone), but could not be applied to phenyl-ethyl alcohol.
The results indicate that olfactory sensitivity may be a non-adaptive by-product of the general physiological fluctuations or differences in neural processing experienced across the cycle to a broad spectrum of odorants, rather than being specifically selected for mate choice-related odors.
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Kern DW, Wroblewski KE, Schumm LP, Pinto JM, McClintock MK. Field Survey Measures of Olfaction: The Olfactory Function Field Exam (OFFE). Field methods 2014; 26:421-434. [PMID: 27226782 PMCID: PMC4876959 DOI: 10.1177/1525822x14547499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Population-based field research on human olfaction has been limited by a lack of feasible assessment tools. Previous olfactory survey research has measured only odor identification, with no research being done on odor detection (i.e., a person's sensitivity to detect a particular odor). Laboratory studies suggest that deficits in both aspects of olfactory function may be related to physical health, mental health and cognition, social function, including overall quality of life, and even mortality. However, field studies are needed to validate and extend these findings in large representative samples. Here we describe the olfactory function field exam, an instrument that can be deployed in field environments by lay interviewers to evaluate both odor identification and odor detection rapidly, practically, and accurately. Use of this new survey tool in future field-based population health studies will elucidate the impact of olfactory function on a myriad of health and social conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Kern
- Department of Comparative Human Development, Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - L. Philip Schumm
- Department of Health Studies, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jayant M. Pinto
- Section of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Martha K. McClintock
- Departments of Comparative Human Development and Psychology, Institute for Mind and Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
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Krajnik J, Kollndorfer K, Nenning KH, Lundström JN, Schöpf V. Gender effects and sexual-orientation impact on androstadienone-evoked behavior and neural processing. Front Neurosci 2014; 8:195. [PMID: 25132813 PMCID: PMC4116783 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2014] [Accepted: 06/22/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
In humans, the most established and investigated substance acting as a chemosignal, i.e., a substance that is excreted from the body, is 4,16-androstadien-3-one (AND). AND, which is found in sweat and saliva, is known to be responsible for influencing several variables, such as psychophysiological status, behavior, as well as cortical processing. The aim of the present review is to give insight into the variety of AND effects, with special regard to specific cross-sexual characteristics of this putative human chemosignal, emphasizing the neural activation patterns and factors such as contextual conditions. This review highlights the importance of including those contributing factors into the analysis of behavioral as well as brain-related studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacqueline Krajnik
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna Vienna, Austria
| | - Kathrin Kollndorfer
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna Vienna, Austria
| | - Karl-Heinz Nenning
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Computational Image Analysis and Radiology Lab, Medical University of Vienna Vienna, Austria
| | - Johan N Lundström
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden ; Monell Chemical Senses Center Philadelphia, PA, USA ; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Veronika Schöpf
- Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna Vienna, Austria
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López F, Delgado R, López R, Bacigalupo J, Restrepo D. Transduction for pheromones in the main olfactory epithelium is mediated by the Ca2+ -activated channel TRPM5. J Neurosci 2014; 34:3268-78. [PMID: 24573286 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4903-13.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that the main olfactory epithelium contains a subset of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) responding to pheromones. One candidate subpopulation expresses the calcium activated cation channel TRPM5 (transient receptor potential channel M5). Using GFP driven by the TRPM5 promoter in mice, we show that this subpopulation responds to putative pheromones, urine, and major histocompatibility complex peptides, but not to regular odors or a pheromone detected by other species. In addition, this subpopulation of TRPM5-GFP+ OSNs uses novel transduction. In regular OSNs, odorants elicit activation of the cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channel, leading to Ca2+ gating of Cl- channels; in TRPM5-GFP+ OSNs, the Ca2+ -activated Cl- ANO2 (anoctamin 2) channel is not expressed, and pheromones elicit activation of the CNG channel leading to Ca2+ gating of TRPM5. In conclusion, we show that OSNs expressing TRPM5 respond to pheromones, but not to regular odors through the opening of CNG channels leading to Ca2+ gating of TRPM5.
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López F, Delgado R, López R, Bacigalupo J, Restrepo D. Transduction for pheromones in the main olfactory epithelium is mediated by the Ca2+ -activated channel TRPM5. J Neurosci 2014; 34:3268-78. [PMID: 24573286 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4903-13.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Growing evidence suggests that the main olfactory epithelium contains a subset of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) responding to pheromones. One candidate subpopulation expresses the calcium activated cation channel TRPM5 (transient receptor potential channel M5). Using GFP driven by the TRPM5 promoter in mice, we show that this subpopulation responds to putative pheromones, urine, and major histocompatibility complex peptides, but not to regular odors or a pheromone detected by other species. In addition, this subpopulation of TRPM5-GFP+ OSNs uses novel transduction. In regular OSNs, odorants elicit activation of the cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channel, leading to Ca2+ gating of Cl- channels; in TRPM5-GFP+ OSNs, the Ca2+ -activated Cl- ANO2 (anoctamin 2) channel is not expressed, and pheromones elicit activation of the CNG channel leading to Ca2+ gating of TRPM5. In conclusion, we show that OSNs expressing TRPM5 respond to pheromones, but not to regular odors through the opening of CNG channels leading to Ca2+ gating of TRPM5.
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