Sex-Steroid Derived Compounds Induce Sex-Specific Effects on Autonomic Nervous System Function in Humans.

Bensafi, Moustafa; Brown, Windy M.; Tsutsui, Toshihiko; Mainland, Joel D.; Johnson, Bonnie; Bremner, Elizabeth; Young, Nicole A.; Mauss, Iris B.; Ray, Biswajit; Gross, James J.; Richards, JoAnne S.; Stappen, Iris; Levenson, Robert W.; Sobel, Noam

doi:10.1037/0735-7044.117.6.1125

Cited by 72 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…These latter changes may reflect changes in cognitive processing that are restricted to women. Psychological changes occurring only in women have been reported in response to androstadienone exposure (Bensafi et al, 2003;Jacob and McClintock, 2000;Lundström and Olson, 2005).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repetitive Olfactory Exposure to the Biologically Significant Steroid Androstadienone Causes a Hedonic Shift and Gender Dimorphic Changes in Olfactory-Evoked Potentials

Boulkroune

Wang

March

et al. 2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

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The function of a sensory system is to transduce and relay sensory information in a constant and reproducible manner. However, in the olfactory processing of certain steroids this precept of sensory constancy does not appear to apply. Using threshold testing, psychometrics, and electrophysiological techniques, we investigated the effects of a repetitive exposure protocol on the response to androstadienone. Androstadienone is a steroid found in human secretions that has been widely proposed as a candidate for a human pheromone. The detection threshold, hedonic perception, and evoked potential response all changed following repetitive exposure to androstadienone and not to a control odorant, benzaldehyde. Furthermore, the exposure-dependent changes in evoked potentials exhibited a gender dimorphism in which there were changes in the later components of the evoked potentials specific to women. These components have been associated with cognitive and perceptual operations. This 'learning' to smell a compound found in sweat may be related to biological signaling.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repetitive Olfactory Exposure to the Biologically Significant Steroid Androstadienone Causes a Hedonic Shift and Gender Dimorphic Changes in Olfactory-Evoked Potentials

Boulkroune

Wang

March

et al. 2007

Neuropsychopharmacol

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“…More than 40 papers claiming psychological and/or physiological effects of androstadienone and/or estratetraenol have been published since 2000 (many studies are tabulated in [34]). These range from studies of physiological effects such as Bensafi et al [48] to the assessment of the gender of computer-generated walking figures [49].…”

Section: Other Problemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The search for human pheromones: the lost decades and the necessity of returning to first principles

2015

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As humans are mammals, it is possible, perhaps even probable, that we have pheromones. However, there is no robust bioassay-led evidence for the widely published claims that four steroid molecules are human pheromones: androstenone, androstenol, androstadienone and estratetraenol. In the absence of sound reasons to test the molecules, positive results in studies need to be treated with scepticism as these are highly likely to be false positives. Common problems include small sample sizes, an overestimate of effect size (as no effect can be expected), positive publication bias and lack of replication. Instead, if we are to find human pheromones, we need to treat ourselves as if we were a newly discovered mammal, and use the rigorous methods already proven successful in pheromone research on other species. Establishing a pheromone relies on demonstration of an odour-mediated behavioural or physiological response, identification and synthesis of the bioactive molecule(s), followed by bioassay confirmation of activity. Likely sources include our sebaceous glands. Comparison of secretions from adult and pre-pubertal humans may highlight potential molecules involved in sexual behaviour. One of the most promising human pheromone leads is a nipple secretion from the areola glands produced by all lactating mothers, which stimulates suckling by any baby not just their own.

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“…How do these compounds influence behaviour and physiology in humans? Bensafi et al (2003) presented AND and EST to heterosexual men and women while recording several measures of physiology and mood. The steroid, AND, affected the sexes differently, increasing physiological arousal in women, but decreasing arousal in men.…”

Section: Social Odours and Human Reproductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social odours, sexual arousal and pairbonding in primates

Snowdon

Ziegler

Schultz-Darken³

et al. 2006

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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We describe the role of social odours in sexual arousal and maintaining pairbonds in biparental and cooperatively breeding primates. Social odours are complex chemical mixtures produced by an organism that can simultaneously provide information about species, kinship, sex, individuality and reproductive state. They are long lasting and have advantages over other modalities. Both sexes are sensitive to changes in odours over the reproductive cycle and experimental disruption of signals can lead to altered sexual behaviour within a pair. We demonstrate, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), that social odours indicating reproductive state directly influence the brain areas responsible for sexual behaviour. Social odours also influence other brain areas typically involved in motivation, memory and decision making, suggesting that these signals have more complex functions in primates than mere sexual arousal. We demonstrate a rapid link between social odours and neuroendocrine responses that are modulated by a male's social status. Recent work on humans shows similar responses to social odours. We conclude with an integration of the importance of social odours on sexual arousal and maintaining pairbonds in socially biparental and cooperatively breeding species, suggesting new research directions to integrate social behaviour, neural activation and neuroendocrine responses.

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Sex-Steroid Derived Compounds Induce Sex-Specific Effects on Autonomic Nervous System Function in Humans.

Cited by 72 publications

References 52 publications

Repetitive Olfactory Exposure to the Biologically Significant Steroid Androstadienone Causes a Hedonic Shift and Gender Dimorphic Changes in Olfactory-Evoked Potentials

Repetitive Olfactory Exposure to the Biologically Significant Steroid Androstadienone Causes a Hedonic Shift and Gender Dimorphic Changes in Olfactory-Evoked Potentials

The search for human pheromones: the lost decades and the necessity of returning to first principles

Social odours, sexual arousal and pairbonding in primates

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