| Title: | "Male subjects who could not perceive the pheromone 5a-androst-16-en-3-one, produced similar orbitofrontal changes on PET compared with perceptible phenylethyl alcohol (rose)" |
| Author(s): | Treyer V; Koch H; Briner HR; Jones NS; Buck A; Simmen DB; |
| Address: | "PET Center, Division of Nuclear Medicine, University Hospital, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. Valerie.Treyer@usz.ch" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 0300-0729 (Print) 0300-0729 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate in how far cerebral blood flow changes in male subjects when exposed to a pheromone that they cannot consciously smell. METHODS: We used a boar taint steroid (5a-Androst-16-en-3-one), which is similar to human axillary sweat but could not be detected by the human volunteers who participated in this study. RESULTS: The pheromone produced activation of the orbitofrontal and frontal cortex in comparison to a baseline condition. The same regions were activated when the subjects smelled a rose-like odour. CONCLUSION: This study shows that a pheromone, which is not consciously detected, can evoke a response in the brain that is similar to a detectable odour" |
| Keywords: | "Adult *Androstenols Animals Cerebral Cortex/*blood supply Cerebrovascular Circulation Humans Male *Odorants Olfactory Bulb/*blood supply *Phenylethyl Alcohol *Pheromones Swine *Tomography, Emission-Computed;" |
| Notes: | "MedlineTreyer, Valerie Koch, Heinz Briner, Hans Rudolf Jones, Nick S Buck, Alfred Simmen, Daniel B eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Netherlands 2007/01/16 Rhinology. 2006 Dec; 44(4):278-82" |
