Maternal recognition of neonates through olfactory cues

Porter, Richard H.; Cernoch, Jennifer M.; McLaughlin, Fiona

doi:10.1016/0031-9384(83)90051-3

Cited by 170 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…MHC odortypes have been demonstrated in mice, rats and humans (see introduction). Investigation of a role for MHC in mother-young recognition in humans, which is known to be mediated in part by olfaction (34,35), would now seem warranted.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent–progeny recognition as a function of MHC odortype identity

Yamazaki

Beauchamp

Curran

et al. 2000

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

120

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The several linked polymorphic genes of the MHC, which has been proposed as a prime determinant of sensed genetic individuality within species, is known to operate in mice by olfactory recognition in aspects of reproductive behavior that concern mate selection, thereby favoring outbreeding and heterozygosity, and also concern the maintenance of pregnancy. A single base-change can alter an individual MHC odortype, and the potential range of combinatorial MHC-determined odortypes is clearly vast. Following our findings that newborn mice already express their MHC odortype (which is detectable at 9 days of gestational age), we sought to determine whether MHC is involved in behavioral aspects of early development, such as rearing. In the studies presented herein, we report the ability and proclivity of mothers to recognize and preferentially retrieve syngeneic (genetically identical) pups from other pups differing only for MHC. Reciprocally, we report the ability of pups to recognize their familial environment, regardless of whether they had been nursed by their biological mothers or by foster mothers. Early learning experiences of the MHC environment are apparently a key element in survival, assuring maternal protection and promoting outbreeding.chemosensation ͉ olfaction ͉ mammalian pheromones ͉ infant

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent–progeny recognition as a function of MHC odortype identity

Yamazaki

Beauchamp

Curran

et al. 2000

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

120

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Thus at birth the odortypes of mother and infant should briefly be the same, composed of both maternal and paternal elements. Recently parturient women having little exposure to their infants can nevertheless distinguish their own from other infants by scent, implying that merely transient exposure is sufficient to establish individual identity (23)(24)(25). But perhaps such identification has already been learned before birth, by means of odortypes exchanged during gestation, representing possibly an important early factor in parent-infant bonding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence suggesting that the odortypes of pregnant women are a compound of maternal and fetal odortypes.

Beauchamp

Katahira

Yamazaki

et al. 1995

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evidence suggesting that the odortypes of pregnant women are a compound of maternal and fetal odortypes (body Contributed by Edward A. Boyse, December 20, 1994 ABSTRACT Odortypes-namely, body odors that distinguish one individual from another on the basis of genetic polymorphism at the major histocompatibility complex and other loci-are a fundamental element in the social life and reproductive behavior of the mouse, including familial imprinting, mate choice, and control of early pregnancy. Odortypes are strongly represented in urine. During mouse pregnancy, an outcrossed mother's urine acquires fetal major histocompatibility complex odortypes of paternal origin, an observation that we took as the focus of a search for odortypes in humans, using a fully automated computer-programmed olfactometer in which trained rats are known to distinguish

show abstract

“…Experiments also have demonstrated that adults can recognize gender and individuality of non-related children (Ligabue Stricker, 1991;Chiarelli, 2001). Thus, body odors can provide humans with information about the individual identity of their offspring (Doty, 1981;Porter and Moore, 1981;Porter et al, 1983Porter et al, , 1985Russell et al, 1983;Curran et al, 2005;Olsson et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, pheromones seem to have a fundamental role in the mechanism of mother-child identification (Porter et al, 1983;Porter and Winberg, 1999). Breast-fed versus bottle-fed infants show different reactions to maternal odors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Volatile Signals During Pregnancy: A Possible Chemical Basis for Mother–Infant Recognition

et al. 2008

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Publisher's copyright statement:The nal publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10886-008-9573-5. Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Abstract Human pheromones have a role in regulating relationships, and apparently influence partner choice and mother-infant recognition. We analyzed the chemical content of volatiles from sweat patch samples from the para-axillary and nipple-areola regions of women during pregnancy and after childbirth. Solid phase microextraction (SPME) was used to extract the volatile compounds, which were then characterized and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). During pregnancy, women developed a distinctive pattern of five volatile compounds common to the para-axillary and nipple-areola regions (1-dodecanol, 1-1΄-oxybis octane, isocurcumenol, α-hexyl-cinnamic aldehyde, and isopropyl myristate). These compounds were absent outside pregnancy and had slightly different patterns in samples from the two body areas. Differentiation of the volatile patterns among pregnant women may help newborns to distinguish their own mothers.

show abstract

Maternal recognition of neonates through olfactory cues

Cited by 170 publications

References 13 publications

Parent–progeny recognition as a function of MHC odortype identity

Parent–progeny recognition as a function of MHC odortype identity

Evidence suggesting that the odortypes of pregnant women are a compound of maternal and fetal odortypes.

Volatile Signals During Pregnancy: A Possible Chemical Basis for Mother–Infant Recognition

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About