Brain Response to Putative Pheromones in Homosexual Men

The testosterone derivative 4,16-androstadien-3-one (AND) and the estrogen-like steroid estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol (EST) are candidate compounds for human pheromones. AND is detected primarily in male sweat, whereas EST has been found in female urine. In a previous positron emission tomography...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 102; no. 20; pp. 7356 - 7361
Main Authors Savic, Ivanka, Berglund, Hans, Lindström, Per, Gustafsson, Jan-Åke
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences 17.05.2005
National Acad Sciences
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Summary:The testosterone derivative 4,16-androstadien-3-one (AND) and the estrogen-like steroid estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol (EST) are candidate compounds for human pheromones. AND is detected primarily in male sweat, whereas EST has been found in female urine. In a previous positron emission tomography study, we found that smelling AND and EST activated regions covering sexually dimorphic nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus, and that this activation was differentiated with respect to sex and compound. In the present study, the pattern of activation induced by AND and EST was compared among homosexual men, heterosexual men, and heterosexual women. In contrast to heterosexual men, and in congruence with heterosexual women, homosexual men displayed hypothalamic activation in response to AND. Maximal activation was observed in the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus, which, according to animal studies, is highly involved in sexual behavior. As opposed to putative pheromones, common odors were processed similarly in all three groups of subjects and engaged only the olfactory brain (amygdala, piriform, orbitofrontal, and insular cortex). These findings show that our brain reacts differently to the two putative pheromones compared with common odors, and suggest a link between sexual orientation and hypothalamic neuronal processes.
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Edited by Jan-Åke Gustafsson, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge, Sweden, and approved April 4, 2005
This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.
Author contributions: I.S. designed research; I.S., H.B., and P.L. performed research; I.S. analyzed data; P.L. recruited subjects; and I.S. wrote the paper.
Abbreviations: HoM, homosexual men; HeM, heterosexual men; HeW, heterosexual women; AND, 4,16-androstadien-3-one; EST, estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol; AIR, odorless air; OO, ordinary odors; PET, positron emission tomography; rCBF, regional cerebral blood flow; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; ROI, region of interest.
To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Retzius väg 8, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. E-mail: ivanka.savic-berglund@neuro.ki.se.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0407998102