Publication at Faculty of Science, First Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Faculty of Humanities |
2010
Abstract
We review research on the 16-androstenes and their special claim, born originally of the finding that androstenes function as boar pheromones, to be human chemosignals. Microbial fauna in human axillae act upon the 16-androstenes to produce odorous volatiles.
Both individual variation and sex differences in perception of these odors suggest that they may play a role in mediating social behavior, and there is now much evidence that they modulate changes in interpersonal perception, and individual mood, behavior and physiology. Many of these changes are sensitive to the context in which the compounds are experienced.