A computer program just ranked the most influential brain scientists of the modern era Excerpt: “My first thought was, ‘Who could I tell without appearing immodest?’” he said. “I then realized the only people who would want to hear about this are my children!” My comment: Oxytocin-related peptides are 9-13 amino acids long, but they … Virus-driven mutation or amino acid substitution
Epigenomics and the control of fate, form and function in social insects Excerpt: “De novo DNA methylation is critical for developmental divergence of female larvae towards the honeybee worker caste and is progressive [49,51].” de novo is a Latin expression meaning “from the beginning DNA methylation does not automagically occur. From the beginning, it has … De novo DNA methylation?
a molecule similar to GnRH is essential to nutrient chemical-dependent and pheromone-controlled reproduction in all species, including C. elegans.
Patisaul et al (2012) makes it clearer the “The role of oxytocin, for example, must be explained in the context of how pheromones, food odors, and endocrine disruptors epigenetically effect sociosexual behavior.”
I will not dismiss the potential importance of oxytocin to effective treatment despite the fact that the mechanisms of its effectiveness remain unknown.
The obvious role of odors, like smoke odor, in PTSD suggests that we welcome Dr. Nemeroff back
Suddenly, we then have the automagical affects of oxytocin on behavior with no need for social neuroscience.
Product comparison of exposure to affect time: Scent of Eros: 15 minutes; Athena product: 8 weeks; Oxytocin product: no data
a form of communication exists between the two partners whereby the female informs the male that she has ovulated and he responds, like the dominant rhesus monkey, with an increase in his testosterone level facilitating his entire sexual response cycle.
Tobin, Hashimoto et al., (2010) states with unusual clarity: “We are not suggesting that social recognition in humans depends on olfactory signals… and in humans olfactory recognition probably has only a small role.” If no one with olfactory deficits ever had a problem either with bonding or with social recognition, this might be true. However, … Smell, hormones, and bonding
