Title: | The putative pheromone androstadienone activates cortical fields in the human brain related to social cognition |
Author(s): | Gulyas B; Keri S; O'Sullivan BT; Decety J; Roland PE; |
Address: | "Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. balazs.gulyas@neuro.ki.se" |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.neuint.2003.10.003 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 0197-0186 (Print) 0197-0186 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Using 15O-butanol positron emission tomography (PET), we measured regional cerebral blood flow changes in five healthy young women during exposure to androstadienone, a putative human pheromone, as well as pleasant (gamma-methyl-ionone), unpleasant (methyl-thio-butanoate), and neutral (dipropylene glycol; vehicle compound) odours. Compared with the odorous substances, androstadienone activated a widely distributed neuronal network. Two large cortical fields exhibited consistent activation in each contrast: the anterior part of the inferior lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the posterior part of the superior temporal cortex (STP). Intriguingly, these areas were deactivated by gamma-methyl-ionone and methyl-thio-butanoate. These brain regions can be identified as cortical fields underlying other than olfactory functions, including various aspects of social cognition and attention" |
Keywords: | Adult Androstadienes/*pharmacology Brain Mapping Butanols Cerebral Cortex/diagnostic imaging/*drug effects Cerebrovascular Circulation/drug effects Cognition/*physiology Female Functional Laterality/physiology Humans Middle Aged Neural Pathways/physiology; |
Notes: | "MedlineGulyas, Balazs Keri, Szabolcs O'Sullivan, Brandon T Decety, Jean Roland, Per E eng Clinical Trial Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2004/03/16 Neurochem Int. 2004 Jun; 44(8):595-600. doi: 10.1016/j.neuint.2003.10.003" |