« Previous Abstract"In Silico ADME and Toxicity Prediction of Benzimidazole Derivatives and Its Cobalt Coordination Compounds. Synthesis, Characterization and Crystal Structure"    Next AbstractCapillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of volatile and semi-volatile compounds of Salvia officinalis »

PLoS One

Title:		Human gender differences in the perception of conspecific alarm chemosensory cues
Author(s):		Radulescu AR; Mujica-Parodi LR;
Address:		"Department of Mathematics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, United States of America"
Journal Title:		PLoS One
Year:		2013
Volume:		20130724
Issue:		7
Page Number:		e68485 -
DOI:		10.1371/journal.pone.0068485
ISSN/ISBN:		1932-6203 (Electronic) 1932-6203 (Linking)
Abstract:		"It has previously been established that, in threatening situations, animals use alarm pheromones to communicate danger. There is emerging evidence of analogous chemosensory 'stress' cues in humans. For this study, we collected alarm and exercise sweat from 'donors,' extracted it, pooled it and presented it to 16 unrelated 'detector' subjects undergoing fMRI. The fMRI protocol consisted of four stimulus runs, with each combination of stimulus condition and donor gender represented four times. Because olfactory stimuli do not follow the canonical hemodynamic response, we used a model-free approach. We performed minimal preprocessing and worked directly with block-average time series and step-function estimates. We found that, while male stress sweat produced a comparably strong emotional response in both detector genders, female stress sweat produced a markedly stronger arousal in female than in male detectors. Our statistical tests pinpointed this gender-specificity to the right amygdala (strongest in the superficial nuclei). When comparing the olfactory bulb responses to the corresponding stimuli, we found no significant differences between male and female detectors. These imaging results complement existing behavioral evidence, by identifying whether gender differences in response to alarm chemosignals are initiated at the perceptual versus emotional level. Since we found no significant differences in the olfactory bulb (primary processing site for chemosensory signals in mammals), we infer that the specificity in responding to female fear is likely based on processing meaning, rather than strength, of chemosensory cues from each gender"
Keywords:		"Adolescent Adult Amygdala/physiology Cues Emotions/physiology Female Humans Male Middle Aged Olfactory Bulb/physiology Sex Factors Stress, Psychological/*physiopathology Young Adult;"
Notes:		"MedlineRadulescu, Anca R Mujica-Parodi, Lilianne R eng M01 RR010710/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ 5-MO1-RR-10710/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ Clinical Trial Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2013/07/31 PLoS One. 2013 Jul 24; 8(7):e68485. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0068485. Print 2013"