Unconscious affect of 5a-Androst-16-en-3-one

[jvkohl]

http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/medline/pmid;17216746

Even when not consciously

detected, 5a-Androst-16-en-3-one, can evoke a detectable odor-like response in the brain.

James V.

Kohl
author: The Scent of Eros: Mysteries of Odor in Human Sexuality

[jvkohl]

Treyer V, Koch H,

Briner HR, Jones NS, Buck A, Simmen DB.
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).
Rhinology. 2006 Dec;44(4):278-82.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17216746&q

uery_hl=5&itool=pubmed_docsum

"In this study we use the pheromone 5a-Androst-16-en-3-one,
which is a

boar taint steroid, a variation (androsta-4,16,-dien-3-
one) of which is found in human axillary sweat."

I

welcome an explanation of the chemical difference (e.g., variation) between 5a-Androst-16-en-3-one and

androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one

"Irrespective as to whether there are specific human
pheromones, or if the human

VNO is responsible for their
detection, we found activation in the odour-relevant regions of
the human

brain..."

"... it is remarkable that the activation of the orbitofrontal
cortex was independent of the

perception of the odor."


James V. Kohl
co-author Human Pheromones:Integrating Neuroendocrinology and

Ethology