Human Tears Contain a Chemosignal
Abstract
Merely sniffing women's negative emotional tears reduces sexual arousal in men.
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A study on sexual appealing showed reduced physiological measures of arousal and lower levels of testosterone in men who sniffed tears from sad women compared to a control.
“A study on sexual appealing showed reduced physiological measures of arousal and lower levels of testosterone in men who sniffed tears from sad women compared to a control (Gelstein et al., 2011).”
From The scent of emotions: A systematic review of human intra‐ and interspecific chemical communication of emotions (2020) · cites this paper as Gelstein et al., 2011
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Cites
Encoding pheromonal signals in the accessory olfactory bulb of behaving mice
Luo, M., Fee, M. S., & Katz, L. C. (2003) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1082133 · Cited by 365 · see citing works
Blind smell: brain activation induced by an undetected air-borne chemical
Sobel, N., Prabhakaran, V., Hartley, C. A., Desmond, J. E., Glover, G. H., Sullivan, E. V., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (1999) · Brain · doi:10.1093/brain/122.2.209 · Cited by 168 · see citing works
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Research works printed but not linked: 8
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The search for human pheromones: The lost decades and the necessity of returning to first principles
Wyatt, T. D. (2015) · Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.2994 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Perceiving the World Through Group-Colored Glasses: A Perceptual Model of Intergroup Relations
Xiao, Y. J., Coppin, G., & Van Bavel, J. J. (2016) · Psychological Inquiry · doi:10.1080/1047840x.2016.1199221 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Williams, J., Stönner, C., Wicker, J., Krauter, N., Derstroff, B., Bourtsoukidis, E., Klüpfel, T., & Kramer, S. (2016) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/srep25464 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Processing of body odor signals by the human brain
Pause, B. M. (2012) · Chemosensory Perception · doi:10.1007/s12078-011-9108-2 · Cited by 107 · see citing works
Calvi, E., Quassolo, U., Massaia, M., Scandurra, A., D'Aniello, B., & D'Amelio, P. (2020) · Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1002/brb3.1585 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
“M / Band-aid attached at the philtrum just below the nostrils fMRI Gelstein et al. (2011) Sadness M fasting and postprandial plasma, F tears Sad videos Saline solution / 20-”
BackgroundMethodInfluentialChemical Fingerprints of Emotional Body Odor
Smeets, M. A. M., Rosing, E. A. E., Jacobs, D. M., van Velzen, E., Koek, J. H., Blonk, C., Gortemaker, I., Eidhof, M. B., Markovitch, B., de Groot, J., et al. (2020) · Metabolites · doi:10.3390/metabo10030084 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
“The accumulating research to date has shown that they can signal information about the states and traits of individuals, such as emotional state [7–10], illness [4], gender [8,11,12], sexual preference [13,14], sexual arousal [15], kin [16], mate compatibility [17], menstrual phase [18] albeit some controversy on this…”
BackgroundEffects of Chemosignals from Sad Tears and Postprandial Plasma on Appetite and Food Intake in Humans
Oh, T. J., Kim, M. Y., Park, K. S., & Cho, Y. M. (2012) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0042352 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
- Authors
- Gelstein, S., Yeshurun, Y., Rozenkrantz, L., Shushan, S., Frumin, I., Roth, Y., & Sobel, N.
- Affiliations
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Wolfson Medical Center (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Gelstein, Shani
- Yeshurun, Yaara
- Sobel, Noam
- Venue
- Science
- Published
- 2011-01-14
- Volume
- 331
- Issue
- 6014
- Pages
- 226-230
- ISSN
- 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9203
- OpenAlex
- W2069493503
- Cited by
- 261
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 21 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 6.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Sensory Systems › Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Neuroendocrine regulation and behavior
- Keywords
- human tears, sexual attraction, sexual arousal, testosterone, olfaction, negative emotions, facial attractiveness, brain activity, sex differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Affect, Arousal, Brain, Double-Blind Method, Emotions, Face, Female, Humans, Hypothalamus, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Odorants, Saliva, Sexual Behavior, Sex Characteristics, Smell, Tears, Temporal Lobe, Testosterone, Pheromones, Human, Young Adult
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