RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Smelling a Single Component of Male Sweat Alters Levels of Cortisol in Women
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 1261
OP 1265
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4430-06.2007
VO 27
IS 6
A1 Claire Wyart
A1 Wallace W. Webster
A1 Jonathan H. Chen
A1 Sarah R. Wilson
A1 Andrew McClary
A1 Rehan M. Khan
A1 Noam Sobel
YR 2007
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/6/1261.abstract
AB Rodents use chemosignals to alter endocrine balance in conspecifics. Although responses to human sweat suggest a similar mechanism in humans, no particular component of human sweat capable of altering endocrine balance in conspecifics has yet been isolated and identified. Here, we measured salivary levels of the hormone cortisol in women after smelling pure androstadienone (4,16-androstadien-3-one), a molecule present in the sweat of men that has been suggested as a chemosignal in humans. We found that merely smelling androstadienone maintained significantly higher levels of the hormone cortisol in women. These results suggest that, like rodents, humans can influence the hormonal balance of conspecifics through chemosignals. Critically, this study identified a single component of sweat, androstadienone, as capable of exerting such influence. This result points to a potential role for synthetic human chemosignals in clinical applications.