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Results for “Pheromones, Human”

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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1987

Androstenol, a putative human pheromone, affects human (Homo sapiens) male choice performance.

A natural secretion, 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3 alpha-ol (androstenol) is speculated to function as a spacing pheromone. The effect of the odor of androstenol on restroom-stall choices was investigated over a 5-week period. The first, third, and fifth weeks served as baselines against which the effect of androstenol or a control odor, 3 alpha-hydroxy-5 alpha-androstan-17-one (androsterone) could be evaluated. During the second and fourth weeks, half of the stalls in each restroom were treated with androstenol or androsterone, respectively. As predicted, men avoided the treated stalls during the androstenol week only, and neither odor affected female stall selection, demonstrating a sex differential influence of the experimental odor.

Androstenols↗
PubMed2004

Do perfume additives termed human pheromones warrant being termed pheromones?

Two studies of the effects of perfume additives, termed human pheromones by the authors, have conveyed the message that these substances can promote an increase in human sociosexual behaviour [Physiol. Behav. 75 (2003) R1; Arch. Sex. Behav. 27 (1998) R2]. The present paper presents an extended analysis of this data. It is shown that in neither study is there a statistically significant increase in any of the sociosexual behaviours for the experimental groups. In the control groups of both studies, there are, however, moderate but statistically significant decreases in the corresponding behaviour. Most notably, there is no support in data for the claim that the substances increase the attractiveness of the wearers of the substances to the other sex. It is concluded that more research using matched homogenous groups of participants is needed.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Behavioral and electrophysiological effects of androstadienone, a human pheromone.

Androstadienone is the most prominent androstene present on male human axillary hair and on the male axillary skin surface. We have previously shown that this volatile steroid is able to stimulate [corrected] the human female vomeronasal organ in picogram (pg) quantities, resulting in changes in autonomic activity. These effects are gender-specific. The purpose of the present study was to ascertain whether androstadienone could be considered a human pheromone by altering behavior as well as autonomic function. Forty normal female subjects were randomized in a double-blind manner to receive either control or 100 pg of androstadienone directly to the vomeronasal organ. We report that administration of this steroid under these conditions results in a significant reduction of nervousness, tension and other negative feeling states. Concordant changes were observed in autonomic physiology.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The influence of androstenol - a putative human pheromone - on mood throughout the menstrual cycle.

Each morning for a month female subjects placed either 5 alpha-androst-16-en-3 alpha-ol, a putative human pheromone, or a placebo on the upper lip. Each evening the subjects rated on five scales their moods during that day. In the middle of their monthly cycle those females exposed to androstenol rather than a control tended to rate their moods as submissive rather than aggressive. The compound did not significantly influence ratings of being happy/depressed; lethargic/lively; sexy/unsexy; irritable/good-tempered. The results are discussed in terms of the possible increased olfactory sensitivity of the human female to androstenol in the middle of her monthly cycle.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Psychological effects of subthreshold exposure to the putative human pheromone 4,16-androstadien-3-one.

Research on human putative pheromones has recently focused on the effects of exposure to 4,16-androstadien-3-one (androstadienone). This steroid has been observed in the skin, axillary hair, and blood plasma, primarily in males. In addition to effects of the steroid on measures of physiological arousal and brain blood flow, positive mood effects have also been reported. The current study further investigated mood effects of androstadienone exposure (250 microM) in women in two experiments. Through psychophysical testing of each individual we controlled for whether any observed mood effects could be related to sensory detection of the steroid. In both experiments, we observed positive changes of women's feeling of being focused, which could not be related to sensory detection of the steroid. Overall, the patterns of results were significantly correlated between the two experiments. In conclusion, this study corroborates earlier findings suggesting that androstadienone exposure yields effects on women's mood; the feeling of being focused. The mood effects were not dependent on menstrual cycle phase. Further, these effects are replicable and occur also when androstadienone detection is rigorously controlled for across variation in menstrual cycle.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Facts, fallacies, fears, and frustrations with human pheromones.

Among primates in general, pheromones are of variable importance to social communication. Data on humans have generated the greatest controversy regarding the existence of pheromonal communication. In this review, the likelihood of pheromonal communication in humans is assessed with a discussion of chemical compounds produced by the axilla that may function as pheromones; the likelihood that the vomeronasal organ (VNO), a putative pheromone receptor organ in many other mammals, is functional in humans; and the possible ways pheromones operate in humans. In the human axilla, the interactions between the cutaneous microflora and axillary secretions render this region analogous to scent glands found in other primates. Both the chemistry of axillary secretions and their effects on conspecifics in humans appear to be analogous to other mammalian pheromone systems. Whichever chemical compounds serve a pheromonal function in humans, another unknown is the receptor. Although the VNO has been implicated in the reception of pheromones in many vertebrates, it is not the only pathway through which such information has access to the central nervous system; there is ample evidence to support the view that the olfactory epithelium can respond to pheromones. Furthermore, if a chemical activates receptors within the VNO, this does not necessarily mean that the compound is a pheromone. An important caveat for humans is that critical components typically found within the functioning VNO of other, nonprimate, mammals are lacking, suggesting that the human VNO does not function in the way that has been described for other mammals. In a broader perspective, pheromones can be classified as primers, signalers, modulators, and releasers. There is good evidence to support the presence of the former three in humans. Examples include affects on the menstrual cycle (primer effects); olfactory recognition of newborn by its mother (signaler); individuals may exude different odors based on mood (suggestive of modulator effects). However, there is no good evidence for releaser effects in adult humans. It is emphasized that no bioassay-guided study has led to the isolation of true human pheromones, a step that will elucidate specific functions to human chemical signals.

Axilla↗
PubMed2006

Sex-specific differences in olfactory sensitivity for putative human pheromones in nonhuman primates.

In humans, the volatile C19-steroids androsta-4,16-dien-3-one (AND) and estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol (EST) have been shown to modulate autonomic nervous system responses, and to cause hypothalamic activation in a gender-specific manner. Using two conditioning paradigms, the authors here show that pigtail macaques and squirrel monkeys of both sexes were able to detect AND and EST at concentrations in the micromolar and mM range, respectively. Male and female spider monkeys, in contrast, differed markedly in their sensitivity to these two odorous steroids, with males not showing any behavioral responses to the highest concentrations of AND tested and females not responding to the highest concentrations of EST. These data provide the first examples of sex-specific bimodal distributions of olfactory sensitivity in a nonhuman primate species.

Androstadienes↗
PubMed2005

Human pheromones and sexual attraction.

Olfactory communication is very common amongst animals, and since the discovery of an accessory olfactory system in humans, possible human olfactory communication has gained considerable scientific interest. The importance of the human sense of smell has by far been underestimated in the past. Humans and other primates have been regarded as primarily 'optical animals' with highly developed powers of vision but a relatively undeveloped sense of smell. In recent years this assumption has undergone major revision. Several studies indicate that humans indeed seem to use olfactory communication and are even able to produce and perceive certain pheromones; recent studies have found that pheromones may play an important role in the behavioural and reproduction biology of humans. In this article we review the present evidence of the effect of human pheromones and discuss the role of olfactory cues in human sexual behaviour.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Regulation of ovulation by human pheromones.

Pheromones are airborne chemical signals that are released by an individual into the environment and which affect the physiology or behaviour of other members of the same species. The idea that humans produce pheromones has excited the imagination of scientists and the public, leading to widespread claims for their existence, which, however, has remained unproven. Here we investigate whether humans produce compounds that regulate a specific neuroendocrine mechanism in other people without being consciously detected as odours (thereby fulfilling the classic definition of a pheromone). We found that odourless compounds from the armpits of women in the late follicular phase of their menstrual cycles accelerated the preovulatory surge of luteinizing hormone of recipient women and shortened their menstrual cycles. Axillary (underarm) compounds from the same donors which were collected later in the menstrual cycle (at ovulation) had the opposite effect: they delayed the luteinizing-hormone surge of the recipients and lengthened their menstrual cycles. By showing in a fully controlled experiment that the timing of ovulation can be manipulated, this study provides definitive evidence of human pheromones.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Concordant preferences for opposite-sex signals? Human pheromones and facial characteristics.

We have investigated whether preferences for masculine and feminine characteristics are correlated across two modalities, olfaction and vision. In study 1, subjects rated the pleasantness of putative male (4,16-androstadien-3-one; 5alpha-androst-16-en-3-one) and female (1,3,5 (10),16-estratetraen-3-ol) pheromones, and chose the most attractive face shape from a masculine-feminine continuum for a long- and a short-term relationship. Study 2 replicated study 1 and further explored the effects of relationship context on pheromone ratings. For long-term relationships, women's preferences for masculine face shapes correlated with ratings of 4,16-androstadien-3-one and men's preferences for feminine face shapes correlated with ratings of 1,3,5(10),16-estratetraen-3-ol. These studies link sex-specific preferences for putative human sex pheromones and sexually dimorphic facial characteristics. Our findings suggest that putative sex pheromones and sexually dimorphic facial characteristics convey common information about the quality of potential mates.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

On the nature of mammalian and human pheromones.

Communication by chemical (pheromone) signals is important in many species, including mammals. Chemosensory and hormonal systems can interact in at least two ways: (i) chemosensory input, especially but not exclusively that through the vomeronasal organ, may elicit hormonal release, which, in turn, may facilitate behavioral or physiological responses; and (ii) hormones, especially steroids, may be essential for some responses to chemosensory, including vomeronasal, input. Recent, still controversial reports, suggest that chemosensory communication may occur in humans via a residual vomeronasal organ and that chemosensory/hormonal interactions also operate in humans. In this symposium these matters are examined critically. Johnston explores the concept of pheromone communication and suggests that the notion of a single-chemical 'magic bullet' irresistibly leading to a preprogrammed result is too simplistic despite documented examples of special stimuli acting via the vomeronasal organ. Meredith briefly reviews evidence for hormonal mediation of the effects of vomeronasal input; including a situation where vomeronasal and hormonal facilitation of a behavior appear to be interchangeable--but where vomeronasal input appears important only in inexperienced animals. Wood discusses evidence that the effectiveness of chemosensory input to particular brain nuclei depends critically on the simultaneous presence of a steroid hormone within the same nucleus. Monti-Bloch presents his evidence that steroids may act as gender-specific chemical signals in humans, exciting an electrical response from the residual human vomeronasal organ and affecting human hormone levels.

Animal Communication↗