Brain Activation Areas of Sexual Arousal with Olfactory Stimulation in Men
Brain Activation Areas of Sexual Arousal with Olfactory Stimulation in Men: A Preliminary Study Using Functional MRI
Human studies of brain activation:
Excerpt 1: “The brain areas activated in the present study showed some areas of similarity compared with those identified in studies of visual sexual stimulation.”
Use of fragrance for human brain activation
Excerpt 2: “In this study, we used Chanel N°5 perfume (Chanel, Paris, France) as the medium for sexual arousal in male subjects.”
Animal studies of brain activation and behavior:
Excerpt 3: “In animal studies… the median preoptic area (MPOA) of the hypothalamus, and the limbic system have been shown to be essential for sexual motivation and performance [13]. McKenna [14] suggested that neurons within the MPOA, paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, and the medial amygdala interact in a complex way to regulate sexual behavior in both men and women. The paralimbic areas, which consist of the inferior frontal lobe, corpus callosum, cingulate gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, and uncus, are responsible for initiation, motivation, and goal-directed behaviors [12].”
My comment on the three excerpts from this article on brain activation:
Neurons within the MPOA are most likely to be collectively responsible for variations in the secretion of hypothalamic gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH). The role of GnRH in human sexual behavior was first detailed in a 1991 book chapter (Moss, Dudley, & Riskind, 1991).
A recent report links the likelihood of a diet-responsive hypothalamic neurogenic niche (Lee et al., 2012) to the postnatal differentiation of neuronal systems that interact with the ability of the MPOA to produce alterations in GnRH pulse frequency and amplitude in response to environmental influences (Forni, Fornaro, Guenette, & Wray, 2011). This diet-responsive hypothalamic neurogenic niche links the epigenetic effects of nutrient chemicals on GnRH to the evolution of the brain across species from microbes to man. Many other works link the epigenetic effects of pheromones to this diet-responsive neurogenic niche and to adaptive evolution of the human brain.
In mammals, GnRH pulse frequency and amplitude cause changes in the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH). Nutrient chemicals associated with food acquisition and pheromones associated with conspecifics directly link changes in GnRH and LH from this hypothetical neurogenic niche to brain development and behaviors required for species survival in species from invertebrates to vertebrates. This direct link, via epigenetic effects on intracellular signaling that cause changes in stochastic gene expression that are linked via c-fos to GnRH (Kohl, 2012).
There is no direct link from visual or auditory stimuli that would explain any likelihood that spectral stimuli could classically condition the response to nutrient chemical associated with food odors. There is no direct link from spectral stimuli that supports the idea that spectral stimuli classically condition sex differences in responses to pheromones. The lack of the direct link from food odors and pheromones to classical conditioning of the LH response to spectral stimuli, like erotic imagery, leads to the conclusion that the response to erotic imagery is classically conditioned by olfactory/pheromonal input in precisely the same way that food odors classically condition the hormone responses associated with the visual appeal of food in men and women. Pheromones, however, are sexually dimorphic, which is why men and women respond to them differently, just as they respond differently to fragrances like the Chanel N°5 perfume (Chanel, Paris, France) used in the experiment I have just reported.
Want more on the same topic?
Swipe/Drag Left and Right To Browse Related Posts:
The eternal significance of microRNA biogenesis (2)
3 MIN READ
0
From quantum physics to quantum souls (4)
8 MIN READ
0
A Mathematical Model Links Quantum Physics to Quantum Souls (1)
6 MIN READ
0
Energy-dependent physical and biophysical constraints (7)
2 MIN READ
0
2016 obfuscated facts about energy as information
5 MIN READ
0
Light, behavior and autophagy, a gender-specific risk factor
4 MIN READ
0
RNA methylation (2)
7 MIN READ
0
RNA-mediated DNA modifications
5 MIN READ
0
Models of scientific literacy
3 MIN READ
0
Cytogenetic approaches link biosystems to ecosystems
3 MIN READ
0
RNA-mediated theory killers (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)
7 MIN READ
0
Mystery machine vs model
2 MIN READ
0
RNA-mediated cell type differentiation: Honeybee
< 1 MIN READ
0
A lighting requirement for life
11 MIN READ
3
MicroRNAs and memory
< 1 MIN READ
0
Behavior (4): All responses are RNA-mediated in birds
4 MIN READ
0
From Hydra to humans vs a Lakatosian research program
4 MIN READ
0
Nothing new under the sun, except pseudoscientific nonsense
6 MIN READ
0
Making sense of quotes scattered across disciplines
2 MIN READ
0
2014 and 2004 Nobel Prize in Medicine
3 MIN READ
0
Forces of "Nature" limit dissemination of information
4 MIN READ
0
RNA-mediated cell type differentiation and behavior
3 MIN READ
0
Metabolism, fixation, health or neurodegerative disorder
2 MIN READ
0
Ecological variation and niche construction: 1, 2, 3
6 MIN READ
0
Epigenetically-effected metabolic shifts and ecological adaptations
3 MIN READ
0
New technique used in report of atomic-level ecological adaptations
3 MIN READ
0
Is the problem an internet echo or Feierman's ethics?
2 MIN READ
0
Behavior (2): All responses are RNA-mediated not genetically-determined
4 MIN READ
0
Insect homology and diversity attributed to mutations
2 MIN READ
0
Jay R. Feierman
3 MIN READ
0
Pulses of olfactory/pheromonal input
2 MIN READ
0
Functional coding variants are not mutations
2 MIN READ
0
Are pheromones responsible for human body odour assessment?
2 MIN READ
0
Evolved development of olfactory systems
2 MIN READ
0
Epigenetic effects underlie sexual preferences IV
< 1 MIN READ
0
A newly discovered hypothalamic neurogenic niche in the brain
< 1 MIN READ
0
Random mutations theory and pervasive mosaic evolution (the brain)
2 MIN READ
0
Is there a model for that?
3 MIN READ
0
Systems biology met epigenetics two decades ago (not two days ago)
2 MIN READ
0
MicroRNA binds messenger RNA: Adaptive Evolution
< 1 MIN READ
0
Never too young to learn WHAT?
< 1 MIN READ
0
Desmond Morris Syndrome: No selective advantage
2 MIN READ
0
Olfactory modulation of visual perception
2 MIN READ
0
Human Pheromones: Epigenetic Effects of Odors and Their Affects on Behavior
2 MIN READ
0
How Species Diversify
2 MIN READ
0
Human Pheromones: theory vs models
3 MIN READ
0
Nobel laureate challenges psychologists to clean up their act
2 MIN READ
0
The Missing Transgenerational Epigenetic Links
2 MIN READ
0
Epigenetic effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) on the primate brain
2 MIN READ
0
Embracing galaxy-wide, cellular, and brain complexity
2 MIN READ
0
“Just-So” stories vs scientific explanations
2 MIN READ
0
Adaptive evolution or not: cone receptors in the eye vs odor receptors
2 MIN READ
0
Bio-CHEMICAL complexity
< 1 MIN READ
0
ENCODE: extant vs extinct species and a clash of world views
4 MIN READ
0
Epigenetic effects on the evolution of behavior
2 MIN READ
0
Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning vs operant conditioning (“training”)
2 MIN READ
0
Chemical signaling may shed light on how the brain reacts to its environment
2 MIN READ
0
Species specificity in gene expression in the brain
2 MIN READ
0
Children’s healthy diets lead to healthier IQ
< 1 MIN READ
0
Pheromones and the phylogeny of operant and classical conditioning
2 MIN READ
0
Human Pheromones: Diversity of signaling pathways and a common response (Part 2)
2 MIN READ
0
A neuroscientific perspective on neurobiological differences in everyone
2 MIN READ
0
Bee research, human sweet perception, human pheromones, and metabolic disorders
< 1 MIN READ
0
No New Neurons for Smell?
2 MIN READ
0
Human pheromones: Olfaction, odor receptors, learning, memory, mood, brains and behavior
< 1 MIN READ
0
Human pheromone- and nutrient-dependent brain development and behavior
2 MIN READ
0
Human pheromones and the visual appeal of other people (Part one)
2 MIN READ
0
Human pheromones and brain development
2 MIN READ
0
More than speculation: adaptive evolution in species from microbes to man
2 MIN READ
0
Creation vs Evolution? Pre-existing genetic variation, not random mutation
2 MIN READ
0
No fooling; visual appeal is not determined by what we see
2 MIN READ
0
They are what they eat, and so are we
2 MIN READ
0
A Preoccupation With Modesty…
2 MIN READ
0
Genes not culture drive humans forward (an antithetical approach)
< 1 MIN READ
0
Creation of different species without physical barriers (Part One)
< 1 MIN READ
0
X-rays Showcase Creation of Similar Internal Portraits of Whole Cells
< 1 MIN READ
0
Human skull study causes evolutionary headache
< 1 MIN READ
0
Human pheromones provide clues to personality
< 1 MIN READ
0
Human Pheromones may influence brain chemistry into adulthood
< 1 MIN READ
0
Human Pheromones and sex differences in brain maturation
< 1 MIN READ
0
Progress in brain research (e.g., starting over)
< 1 MIN READ
0
Show me the science!
5 MIN READ
0
“Genes (are not) Activated by Sound!”
3 MIN READ
0
The Mind’s Eyes: Mindful modeling of brain directed behavior
2 MIN READ
0
Scents of Adolescence: Are you blind?
< 1 MIN READ
0
Honeybees, food odors, and perfume
< 1 MIN READ
0
Dogs and humans: Then and now
< 1 MIN READ
0
Pheromones and olfaction in the birds and the bees: from yeasts to you
2 MIN READ
0
Comparing visual to olfactory/pheromonal input
< 1 MIN READ
0
