ArticleeLife2021
Oxytocin modulates human chemosensory decoding of sex in a dose-dependent manner.
Article in eLife, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Oxytocin System and Implications for Oxytocin Deficiency in Hypothalamic-Pituitary Disease.Endocrine reviews · 2025Review
- Evolutionary conserved peptide and glycoprotein hormone-like neuroendocrine systems in C. elegans.Molecular and cellular endocrinology · 2024Article
- Advances in human oxytocin measurement: challenges and proposed solutions.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Review
- Olfaction in the Multisensory Processing of Faces: A Narrative Review of the Influence of Human Body Odors.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Review
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
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.
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Registered trials
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