Psychological state and mood effects of steroidal chemosignals in women and men - PubMed
Clinical Trial
Psychological state and mood effects of steroidal chemosignals in women and men
S Jacob et al. Horm Behav. 2000 Feb.
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that isolated steroids, claimed to act like pheromones, affect human psychological state or mood. In the first experiment, we established that two steroids, Delta4, 16-androstadien-3-one and 1,3,5(10)16-estratetraen-3-ol, modulated emotional states within 6 min of exposure. In men and women, neither steroid had specific effects on states of alertness or negative-confused mood. However, both steroids increased positive stimulated mood state in women but decreased it in men. These psychological findings do not parallel the reported sexually specific effects of these two steroids on the surface potential activity of putative vomeronasal epithelium. In a second experiment on women, we replicated that Delta4,16-androstadien-3-one modulated their general mood state, even when women were not aware of its odor and gave identical olfactory descriptions for the steroid and the control carrier solutions. In this within-subjects, repeated-measures experiment, androstadienone prevented the deterioration in general mood which occurred during exposure to the clove oil carrier solution in the laboratory environment. Thus, androstadienone appears to modulate affect, rather than releasing stereotyped behaviors or emotions. It is premature to call these steroids human pheromones. They are nonetheless psychologically potent, mandating future work delineating their function-i.e., whether these steroids are communicative chemosignals, context specific, or related to unconscious associations. In light of these modulatory effects and the complexity of human behavior, the function of chemosignals and pheromonal systems in a variety of species may need to be expanded to include the concept of modulators, as well as the traditional releasers, primers, and signaling compounds.
Copyright 2000 Academic Press.
Similar articles
-
Bensafi M, Brown WM, Khan R, Levenson B, Sobel N. Bensafi M, et al. Behav Brain Res. 2004 Jun 4;152(1):11-22. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2003.09.009. Behav Brain Res. 2004. PMID: 15135965
-
Context-dependent effects of steroid chemosignals on human physiology and mood.
Jacob S, Hayreh DJ, McClintock MK. Jacob S, et al. Physiol Behav. 2001 Sep 1-15;74(1-2):15-27. doi: 10.1016/s0031-9384(01)00537-6. Physiol Behav. 2001. PMID: 11564447 Clinical Trial.
-
Putative human pheromone androstadienone attunes the mind specifically to emotional information.
Hummer TA, McClintock MK. Hummer TA, et al. Horm Behav. 2009 Apr;55(4):548-59. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.01.002. Epub 2009 Jan 20. Horm Behav. 2009. PMID: 19470369
-
Oral contraceptives and neuroactive steroids.
Rapkin AJ, Biggio G, Concas A. Rapkin AJ, et al. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2006 Aug;84(4):628-34. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2006.06.008. Epub 2006 Jul 18. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2006. PMID: 16854457 Review.
-
How mammals detect pheromones.
Silvotti L, Montani G, Tirindelli R. Silvotti L, et al. J Endocrinol Invest. 2003;26(3 Suppl):49-53. J Endocrinol Invest. 2003. PMID: 12834021 Review.
Cited by
-
The vomeronasal organ is not involved in the perception of endogenous odors.
Frasnelli J, Lundström JN, Boyle JA, Katsarkas A, Jones-Gotman M. Frasnelli J, et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2011 Mar;32(3):450-60. doi: 10.1002/hbm.21035. Hum Brain Mapp. 2011. PMID: 20578170 Free PMC article.
-
Concordant preferences for opposite-sex signals? Human pheromones and facial characteristics.
Cornwell RE, Boothroyd L, Burt DM, Feinberg DR, Jones BC, Little AC, Pitman R, Whiten S, Perrett DI. Cornwell RE, et al. Proc Biol Sci. 2004 Mar 22;271(1539):635-40. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2649. Proc Biol Sci. 2004. PMID: 15156922 Free PMC article.
-
Neuroenhancement: State of the Art and Future Perspectives.
Marazziti D, Avella MT, Ivaldi T, Palermo S, Massa L, Vecchia AD, Basile L, Mucci F. Marazziti D, et al. Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2021 Jun;18(3):137-169. doi: 10.36131/cnfioritieditore20210303. Clin Neuropsychiatry. 2021. PMID: 34909030 Free PMC article.
-
Wyatt TD. Wyatt TD. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020 Jun 8;375(1800):20190262. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0262. Epub 2020 Apr 20. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020. PMID: 32306877 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Interdisciplinary challenges for elucidating human olfactory attractiveness.
Ferdenzi C, Richard Ortegón S, Delplanque S, Baldovini N, Bensafi M. Ferdenzi C, et al. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020 Jun 8;375(1800):20190268. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0268. Epub 2020 Apr 20. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020. PMID: 32306873 Free PMC article. Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Miscellaneous