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Oxytocin modulates human chemosensory decoding of sex in a dose-dependent manner
- Source :
- eLife, Vol 10 (2021), eLife
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, 2021.
-
Abstract
- There has been accumulating evidence of human social chemo-signaling, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Considering the evolutionarily conserved roles of oxytocin and vasopressin in reproductive and social behaviors, we examined whether the two neuropeptides are involved in the subconscious processing of androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one and estra-1,3,5 (10),16-tetraen-3-ol, two human chemosignals that convey masculinity and femininity to the targeted recipients, respectively. Psychophysical data collected from 216 heterosexual and homosexual men across five experiments totaling 1056 testing sessions consistently showed that such chemosensory communications of masculinity and femininity were blocked by a competitive antagonist of both oxytocin and vasopressin receptors called atosiban, administered nasally. On the other hand, intranasal oxytocin, but not vasopressin, modulated the decoding of androstadienone and estratetraenol in manners that were dose-dependent, nonmonotonic, and contingent upon the recipients’ social proficiency. Taken together, these findings establish a causal link between neuroendocrine factors and subconscious chemosensory communications of sex-specific information in humans.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
0301 basic medicine
Vasopressin
vasopressin
QH301-705.5
Science
Neuropeptide
biological motion
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
Young Adult
03 medical and health sciences
chemistry.chemical_compound
0302 clinical medicine
Estratetraenol
oxytocin
medicine
Humans
sex
Estrenes
Biology (General)
Social Behavior
Vasopressin receptor
Masculinity
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
General Immunology and Microbiology
General Neuroscience
Androstadienone
Atosiban
General Medicine
Androstadienes
Femininity
030104 developmental biology
Oxytocin
chemistry
chemosensory communication
Medicine
Psychology
Neuroscience
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Research Article
Human
medicine.drug
Social behavior
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 2050084X
- Volume :
- 10
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- eLife
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....2d34b4af1694b491212492268b3ecc71