| Title: | Breath chemical markers of sexual arousal in humans |
| Author(s): | Wang N; Pugliese G; Carrito M; Moura C; Vasconcelos P; Cera N; Li M; Nobre P; Georgiadis JR; Schubert JK; Williams J; |
| Address: | "Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany. Rostock University Medical Center, Rostock, Germany. CPUP, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany. jonathan.williams@mpic.de. Climate and Atmosphere Research Center, The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia, Cyprus. jonathan.williams@mpic.de" |
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41598-022-10325-6 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 2045-2322 (Electronic) 2045-2322 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "The chemical composition of exhaled breath was examined for volatile organic compound (VOC) indicators of sexual arousal in human beings. Participants (12-male, 12-female) were shown a randomized series of three emotion-inducing 10-min film clips interspersed with 3-min neutral film clips. The films caused different arousals: sports film (positive-nonsexual); horror film (negative-nonsexual); and erotic (sexual) that were monitored with physiological measurements including genital response and temperature. Simultaneously the breath was monitored for VOC and CO(2). While some breath compounds (methanol and acetone) changed uniformly irrespective of the film order, several compounds did show significant arousal associated changes. For both genders CO(2) and isoprene decreased in the sex clip. Some male individuals showed particularly strong increases of indole, phenol and cresol coincident with sexual arousal that decreased rapidly afterwards. These VOCs are degradation products of tyrosine and tryptophan, precursors for dopamine, noradrenalin, and serotonin, and therefore represent potential breath markers of sexual arousal" |
| Keywords: | Biomarkers Breath Tests Carbon Dioxide/metabolism Erotica Exhalation Female Humans Male Sexual Arousal *Volatile Organic Compounds; |
| Notes: | "MedlineWang, N Pugliese, G Carrito, M Moura, C Vasconcelos, P Cera, N Li, M Nobre, P Georgiadis, J R Schubert, J K Williams, J eng 674911/MCCC_/Marie Curie/United Kingdom Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2022/04/17 Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 15; 12(1):6267. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-10325-6" |
