The Mind’s Eyes: Modeling the
Development of Diverse Sexual Preferences
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
~~William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
The Reiss Plenary
James V. Kohl
Clinical Laboratory Scientist,
ASCLS, NCA
JVKohl@bellsouth.net
www.pheromones.com
Adapted for presentation from: Kohl (2006)
The Mind's Eyes: Human Pheromones,
Neuroscience, and Male Sexual Preferences.
Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 18(4):
313-369.
Guest editor: Michael R. Kauth
Editor: Eli Coleman
Concurrently published as a book chapter in
Handbook of the Evolution of Human Sexuality
The Haworth Press, Inc.
Nature
SEXUAL DIFFERENTIATION
Pheromones alter GnRH-modulated:
neural circuitry, odor hedonics, mood,
memory, motivation, cognitive behavioral state,
and potentiating responses to other stimuli, and link
Nature to Nurture via affective reactions
PRENATAL
PRE- and POSTNATAL
GnRH
Nerve cell
Migration
Aging
Sexual Expression
Olfactory placode
Sexual Identity
Nurture
The influence of pheromones from the same
sex or from the opposite sex on postnatal
sexual differentiation
Pheromones
From the same sex
From the opposite sex
Olfactory Bulbs
Sexual orientation
Limbic System
Extrahypothalamic GnRH
Learning and Memory
Hypothalamus
Positive
Negative
Hypothalamic
GnRH
Neuronal
feedback
Male
Female
GnRH pulse
frequency and amplitude
Tonic
Cyclic
extrapituitary effects
Pituitary
LH / FSH
NEUROTRANSMISSION
Synaptogenesis
Synaptolysis
Apoptosis
HPA
axis
Synaptogenesis
Synaptolysis
Apoptosis
HPG
axis
Adrenals
Gonads
LH
Testes
(androgenic metabolites)
P
H
E
R
O
M
O
N
E
S
Ovaries
(estrogenic metabolites)
FSH
Adrenal metabolites
(androsterone)
(etiocholanolone)
Pheromones
Luteinizing Hormone: The link between sex and the sense of smell
Dichotomies
 Nature vs Nurture (Genetics vs Social environment)
 Structure vs Function
 Organization vs Activation
 Effects of hormones vs Behavioral affects
 Conscious choice vs Unconscious affects
 Creation vs evolution (Normalcy vs Diversity)
Hormone-dependent facial features
Used with permission from Victor Johnson
Hormone-dependent WHR
Adapted from Marlowe et al. (2005)
High Estrogen/Androgen ratios, physical
features…
Feminine features: small jaw, full lips, large
breasts, narrow waist, shorter, higher vocal
pitch, light complexion, etc.
…AND THE PHEROMONES OF WOMEN.
Low Estrogen/Androgen ratios, physical
features…
Masculine features: growth of the jaw, brow
ridges, center of the face from the brow to
the bottom of the nose, more facial hair,
taller, darker, more muscular, etc.
…AND THE PHEROMONES OF MEN.
Pheromones
(traditional definition)
Karlson and Luscher (1959):
“… substances which are secreted to the
outside by an individual and received by a
second individual of the same species, in
which they release a specific reaction, for
example, a definite behaviour, or a
developmental process.” (p. 55)
Pheromones are:
Species-specific and hormonedependent chemical signals
that alter hormone levels and
behavior in others.
---------------------------------------------------------The only sensory input from our social
environment that has a direct effect on
hormones.
Pheromones directly affect behavior.
No “sixth sense”
No human vomeronasal organ (VNO)
No “discoverer” of human pheromones
Olfactory/pheromonal input and
pheromones are:
Body odors that, whether or not we smell
them, alter hormone levels and behavior
in others.
See: www.pheromones.com
The Mind’s Eyes and Diverse
Food Preferences
MED_071C Image Club Royalty
Free Photograph
The Mind’s Eyes and Diverse
Sexual Preferences
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): Body odor
Conditioned stimulus (CS): visual, auditory,
tactile, gustatory—combined?
The CS (e.g., visual input), gains behavioral
significance after being paired with a
biologically active UCS (e.g., pheromones).
Odors/pheromones are the proximate cause
Hormone-driven preferences are their effect.
Brain Imagery 1:
Body odors vs Common odors
Johan N. Lundstrom, Julie A. Boyle, Robert J. Zatorre, and
Marilyn Jones-Gotman
(2007) Functional Neuronal Processing of Body
Odors Differs from that of Similar Common
Odors.
Cereb Cortex. published online 12 October 2007
Brain Imagery 2:
Male vs Female response
Savic, I., Berglund, H., Gulyas, B., & Roland, P.
(2001). Smelling of odorous sex hormonelike compounds causes sex-differentiated
hypothalamic activations in humans.
Neuron., 31(4), 661-668.
Brain Imagery 3:
Male / Female sexual preferences
Martins, Y., Preti, G., Crabtree, C. R., Runyan, T., Vainius, A. A., & Wysocki, C. J.
(2005). Preference for human body odors is
influenced by gender and sexual orientation.
Psychol Sci., 16(9), 694-701.
Savic, I., Berglund, H., & Lindstrom, P.
(2005). Brain response to putative
pheromones in homosexual men. Proc Natl Acad Sci U
S A., 102(20), 7356-7361. Epub 2005 May 7359.
Berglund, H., Lindstrom, P., & Savic, I.
(2006). Brain response to putative
pheromones in lesbian women. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A,
103(21), 8269-8274.
Savic, I. Brain response to putative pheromones in
humans. AChemS 29th Annual Meeting, April 25-29,
2007 Sarasota, Florida
Smelling male and female pheromones, activates the
human brain in a sex differentiated manner. The
pattern of activation in homosexual subjects raises
the question of whether this pattern could be effect of
sexual behavior or reflect a variant organization of
the hypothalamic circuits.
(embargoed)
“These issues will be discussed in relation to
new data from male–to-female transsexuals…”
The Mind’s Eyes:
A distributed network of nerve cells
that collectively integrates hormone
responses to pheromones with visual
input, and with other associated
sensory input from our social
environment.
The Mind’s Eyes
 Nature + Nurture (Genetics + Social environment)
Nature: Genetically determined
mechanisms for the identification of others
of the same species and for the
development of sexual preferences.
Nurture: A direct effect on genes by sensory input
from the social environment
Pheromones directly link nurture (the social
environment) to gene activation (nature).
The Mind’s Eyes
 Structure + Function
Gene activation occurs in hormone-secreting
nerve cells of brain tissue that is located in a
structure: the hypothalamus.
The function of these hormone-secreting cells
is to direct the concurrent maturation of the
brain, the neuroendocrine system, and the
reproductive system—all of which are directly
effected by pheromones, which affect the
development of sexual preferences.
The Mind’s Eyes
 Organization + Activation
Before birth, genetically determined
sexually dimorphic hormones organize the
number and density of these cells in the
hypothalamus.
At birth, these cells are activated differently
by the pheromones of other males
compared to other females.
Pheromones from other people cause
hormone levels to change: re-organization.
The Mind’s Eyes
 Effect of hormones + Behavioral affect
The direct effect of pheromones on these
hormone-secreting cells in the hypothalamus
controls levels of many other hormones.
In mammals, the effect of pheromones on
levels of hormones conditions behavioral
affects.
People are mammals. Visual input from our
social environment is not likely to have direct
effects on hormones or on behavior.
The Mind’s Eyes
 Effect of hormones + Behavioral affect
One central neuronal pathway links:
noradrenergic, dopaminergic, serotoninergic, and opiodergic
pathways, as well as inhibitory neurotransmitters like gammaaminobutyric acid and excitatory amino acids like glutamic and
aspartic acids and other brain peptides including pineal
secretions like melatonin and corticotrophinreleasing hormone
and the complex interactions among them (e.g., the effects of
hormones)…
…to functional species-specific influences,
which are linked to behavioral affect by the
same hormone-secreting cells, that
pheromones directly effect.
The Mind’s Eyes
 Conscious choice + Unconscious affects
A hormone conserved in species as diverse
as yeast and primates is the biological core of
mammalian reproductive sexual behavior, and
it is activated by human pheromones.
Similar hormone pathways are conserved in
mammals that do not consciously choose their
mates. Conscious choice is probably less
important than the direct effect of pheromones
on hormones and their unconscious affects on
the behavior of most species.
The Mind’s Eyes
 Creation + Evolution (Normalcy + Diversity)
The Creation or Evolution of lock and key
(hormone and receptor) proteins enable
communication of sex differences and
immune system differences in all species that
sexually reproduce.
One hormone is a “key” that is conserved
across all species that sexually reproduce.
Diversification of the different “locks” that this
key opens enables speciation -- and predates
the genetic origin of vision.
The Mind’s Eyes: No Dichotomies
Nature + Nurture (Genetics + Social environment)
Structure + Function
Organization + Activation
Effects of hormones + Behavioral affects
Conscious choice + Unconscious affect
Creation + Evolution (Normalcy + Diversity)
The Mind’s Eyes: No Dichotomies
Nature + Nurture (Genetics + Social environment)
Structure + Function
Organization + Activation
Effects of hormones + Behavioral affects
Conscious choice + Unconscious affect
Creation + Evolution (Normalcy + Diversity)
Reality check: Individuals vs. groups
Used with permission from Victor Johnson
The Mind’s Eyes: Modeling the
Development of Diverse Sexual Preferences
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
~~William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
The Reiss Plenary
James V. Kohl
Clinical Laboratory Scientist,
ASCLS, NCA
JVKohl@bellsouth.net
www.pheromones.com
Sexual preference difference (1)
Hypothalamus
Medial preoptic area
of the anterior hypothalamus
MPOA/AH
MP-AHN
Male Pheromone/Female Response
Female Pheromone/Male Response
The Mind’s Eyes are in the area of the brain that
lights up differently when exposed to male or
female pheromones.
Adapted from Savic et al., 2001
Sexual preference difference (M)
HeW
HoM
Male pheromone
Female
pheromone
Adapted from Savic et al., 2005
HeM
Sexual preference difference (F)
HeW
Lesbian
Male pheromone
Female
pheromone
Adapted from Berglund et al., 2006
HeM
Poster session: Saturday 330-530
Kelahan, L.C, Hoffmann H., and Kohl, JV
Putative Human Pheromones May
Condition a Human Female Hormonal
Effect / Behavioral Affect
How to Smell Like You Look Good
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.
~~William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
The Reiss Plenary
James V. Kohl
Clinical Laboratory Scientist,
ASCLS, NCA
JVKohl@bellsouth.net
www.pheromones.com
What about birds?
Hagelin, J. (2007). Odors and chemical signaling. In B. G. M. Jamieson (Ed.),
Reproductive Behavior and Phylogeny of Aves. Vol. 6B. (pp. 76-119). Enfield, NH:
Science Publishers.
Ira L. Reiss: 12/02/1999.
We need to know why something is the way we
find it, not just describe what is found. Theory
gives us the ability to derive hypotheses about
what else might be true and check them out.
Explanation (theory) is how science
progresses and finds ways of helping society
contain its many problems. To me explanation
is the heart of science. Unfortunately we in
social science do not have as much
explanation in our published journal articles as
we should. But few would dismiss explanation
as unimportant or unnecessary.
Jay Feierman: 7/29/2007
You can't just keep explaining things by your
model.
You need to predict that which has not yet
occurred by the model and be able to show
that a primary visual mechanism is not able
to predict the same thing.
Pheromones effect hormones and
control sexual behaviors
The effect of pheromones on
reproductive hormone status is
mediated by GnRH neurons.
GnRH plays an important role in the
control of sexual behaviors via their
link to reproductive hormone status
and sexual behavior that involves
GnRH neurons.
Boehm, U., Zou, Z., & Buck, L.B. (2005). Feedback loops link odor
and pheromone signaling with reproduction. Cell, 123, 683-695.