| Title: | Brain response to putative pheromones in homosexual men |
| Author(s): | Savic I; Berglund H; Lindstrom P; |
| Address: | "Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. ivanka.savic-berglund@neuro.ki.se" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0027-8424 (Print) 1091-6490 (Electronic) 0027-8424 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The testosterone derivative 4,16-androstadien-3-one (AND) and the estrogen-like steroid estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol (EST) are candidate compounds for human pheromones. AND is detected primarily in male sweat, whereas EST has been found in female urine. In a previous positron emission tomography study, we found that smelling AND and EST activated regions covering sexually dimorphic nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus, and that this activation was differentiated with respect to sex and compound. In the present study, the pattern of activation induced by AND and EST was compared among homosexual men, heterosexual men, and heterosexual women. In contrast to heterosexual men, and in congruence with heterosexual women, homosexual men displayed hypothalamic activation in response to AND. Maximal activation was observed in the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus, which, according to animal studies, is highly involved in sexual behavior. As opposed to putative pheromones, common odors were processed similarly in all three groups of subjects and engaged only the olfactory brain (amygdala, piriform, orbitofrontal, and insular cortex). These findings show that our brain reacts differently to the two putative pheromones compared with common odors, and suggest a link between sexual orientation and hypothalamic neuronal processes" |
| Keywords: | "Adult Analysis of Variance Androstadienes/*pharmacology Estrenes/*pharmacology Female *Homosexuality, Male Humans Hypothalamus/*drug effects/metabolism Magnetic Resonance Imaging Male Odorants Positron-Emission Tomography Respiration Smell/*drug effects/p;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineSavic, Ivanka Berglund, Hans Lindstrom, Per eng Comparative Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2005/05/11 Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 May 17; 102(20):7356-61. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0407998102. Epub 2005 May 9" |
