Poster No:
2013
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Maya Armin1, Elena Losse2, Thilo Kellermann3, Susanne Nehls4, Natalya Chechko4, Ute Habel5
Institutions:
1RWTH University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, Germany, 2RWTH University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, 3RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, 4RWTH University Hospital, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, 5RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia
First Author:
Maya Armin
RWTH University Hospital Aachen
Aachen, Germany
Co-Author(s):
Elena Losse
RWTH University Hospital Aachen
Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Thilo Kellermann
RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics
Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Susanne Nehls
RWTH University Hospital
Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Ute Habel
RWTH Aachen University
Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia
Introduction:
Olfactory cues play a critical role in social communication in many animal species, influencing mate selection, bonding, and social behavior (Mitchell, 2017, Coombes 2018). Recent evidence suggests that humans can also distinguish body odors, which are influenced by the hormonal state of the producer (Habel, 2021). Despite this, the neural mechanisms underlying human responses to body odors remain underexplored, particularly during reproductively relevant states such as pregnancy, menstruation, and ovulation. This study investigates whether body odors modulate brain activity and behavior in male and female recipients, offering insights into unconscious olfactory contributions to social communication.
Methods:
This study involved two participant groups: body odor donors and body odor recipients (fMRI participants). Axillary odor samples were collected from 30 normally cycling women during ovulation and menstruation (age: 19-34, M = 23.89, SD = 4.08), and 30 pregnant women in their first trimester (age: 24-36, M = 28.8, SD = 3.47).
In a single-blind fMRI experiment, 40 single heterosexual men (age: 20-34, M = 23.86, SD = 3.38) and 36 single heterosexual women (age: 20-35, M = 23.29, SD = 3.55) were exposed to three body odor conditions (ovulation, menstruation, pregnancy) and a no-odor control condition. Odors were delivered using an olfactometer, and participants viewed emotionally neutral faces of 10 women presented in parallel with each odor condition. Participants rated each face for attractiveness, how close they would like to get to the person, and whether they thought the woman might be pregnant.
Results:
Behavioral analyses showed no significant effect of odor conditions on participants' ratings of attractiveness, closeness, or perceived pregnancy, suggesting no overt conscious evaluations. However, neuroimaging results revealed distinct activation patterns in brain regions associated with empathy and social processing in response to body odors.
In men, body odors elicited higher activity in the fusiform face area, right caudate, right putamen, right middle cingulate cortex, and bilateral middle temporal gyrus, regions linked to face perception, reward processing, and social cognition. Comparisons between men and menstruating women revealed no significant differences in brain activity across odor versus no-odor conditions. In contrast, ovulating women showed significantly higher activity compared to men in the bilateral mid-cingulate cortex, post-cingulate cortex, left post-central gyrus, right middle occipital gyrus, and right precuneus-regions implicated in empathy and self-referential processing.
Conclusions:
These findings suggest that while body odors do not overtly influence conscious evaluations of attractiveness, closeness, or perceived pregnancy, they modulate neural activity in regions associated with social cognition, reward, and sensory processing in men compared to women. Differences in brain activation between men and ovulating women highlight the role of olfactory cues in shaping subtle or unconscious aspects of social communication, particularly during reproductively relevant states.
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Neuroscience Other 2
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI
Perception, Attention and Motor Behavior:
Chemical Senses: Olfaction, Taste 1
Keywords:
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Smell
Social Interactions
Other - sex differences,
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Task-activation
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Healthy subjects
Was this research conducted in the United States?
No
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel?
NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
Yes
Were any animal research approved by the relevant IACUC or other animal research panel?
NOTE: Any animal studies without IACUC approval will be automatically rejected.
Not applicable
Please indicate which methods were used in your research:
Functional MRI
Behavior
Neuropsychological testing
Other, Please specify
-
BioPack data: puls and breathing were recorded
For human MRI, what field strength scanner do you use?
3.0T
Which processing packages did you use for your study?
SPM
Provide references using APA citation style.
[1] Mitchell, J.(2017): Pregnancy is detected via odour in a wild cooperative breeder. Biol Lett 13:20170441.
[2] Coombes, HA.. (2018) Female chemical signalling underlying reproduction in mammals. Journal of chemical ecology. Sep;44:851-73.
[3] Habel, U. (2021). Male brain processing of the body odor of ovulating women compared to that of pregnant women. NeuroImage, 229, 117733.
No