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Kenshi Hayashi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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molecular structural discrimination of chemical compounds in Body Odor using their gc ms chromatogram and clustering methods
International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 2017Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Kenshi HayashiAbstract:Abstract In the present study, Body Odor samples have been collected according to different sampling protocols and characterized using the gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS) technique with the objective to investigate the existence of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) belonging to several chemical classes in Body Odor composition. Moreover, the characterization outcomes have been validated by analyzing spectral information using substantial clustering methods. Specifically, the data matrix based on peak height of chemical compounds in each experiment has been analyzed by using six clustering methods, including principal component analysis (PCA), k-means clustering, fuzzy c-means clustering, hierarchical cluster analysis, fuzzy clustering, and k-medoids clustering. Chemical compounds were well clustered into several groups with each of the implemented clustering methods which endorse the experimental characterization outcomes and establishes the existence of VOCs from multiple chemical classes in Body Odor composition.
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a quick responding quartz crystal microbalance sensor array based on molecular imprinted polyacrylic acids coating for selective identification of aldehydes in Body Odor
Talanta, 2015Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Kenshi HayashiAbstract:Abstract In present work, a novel quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor array has been developed for prompt identification of primary aldehydes in human Body Odor. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) are prepared using the polyacrylic acid (PAA) polymer matrix and three organic acids (propenoic acid, hexanoic acid and octanoic acid) as template molecules, and utilized as QCM surface coating layer. The performance of MIP films is characterized by 4-element QCM sensor array (three coated with MIP layers and one with pure PAA for reference) dynamic and static responses to target aldehydes: hexanal, heptanal, and nonanal in single, binary, and tertiary mixtures at distinct concentrations. The target aldehydes were selected subsequent to characterization of Body Odor samples with solid phase-micro extraction gas chromatography mass spectrometer (SPME-GC–MS). The hexanoic acid and octanoic acid imprinted PAA exhibit fast response, and better sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility than the propenoic acid, and non-imprinted PAA in array. The response time and recovery time for hexanoic acid imprinted PAA are obtained as 5 s and 12 s respectively to typical concentrations of binary and tertiary mixtures of aldehydes using the static response. Dynamic sensor array response matrix has been processed with principal component analysis (PCA) for visual, and support vector machine (SVM) classifier for quantitative identification of target Odors. Aldehyde Odors were identified successfully in principal component (PC) space. SVM classifier results maximum recognition rate 79% for three classes of binary Odors and 83% including single, binary, and tertiary Odor classes in 3-fold cross validation.
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Human Body Odor discrimination by GC-MS spectra data mining
Analytical Methods, 2015Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Ninoslav Marina, Chuanjun Liu, Kenshi HayashiAbstract:The present study explores individual identity perception by analyzing the chemical peak information in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) spectra of Body Odor samples with standard data mining approaches. Mainly, the principal component analysis (PCA) method is chosen for the visual discrimination of the Body Odor samples in feature space. PCA in combination with the support vector machine (SVM) method is used for quantitative recognition. GC-MS characterization confirms the composition of numerous chemical species (aldehydes, acids, ketones, esters, sulfides etc.) in the Body Odor samples. The GC-MS spectra of Body Odor samples from the armpit and neck of three people (from dissimilar age groups) at two different sampling times (0 h and 4 h) were recorded in the experiment. A few blank (non-Body Odor) samples were also characterized with GC-MS and included as references in further analysis by the data mining methods. The discrimination efficiency (both qualitative and quantitative) for the individual Body Odors was evaluated for (i) three variables of chemical information in the GC-MS spectra (the peak area, peak height and ratio of peak area to height); (ii) two sampling times (0 h and 4 h); and (iii) two sampling parts of the Body (the neck and armpit). The best visual discrimination of the individual Body Odors has been achieved using the peak height as a variable for the neck Odor with a sampling time of 4 h. This result has been established with class separability measures calculated with principal component (PC) scores and SVM classification outcomes (86%).
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polyacrylic acid polymer and aldehydes template molecule based mips coated qcm sensors for detection of pattern aldehydes in Body Odor
Sensors and Actuators B-chemical, 2015Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Kenshi HayashiAbstract:Abstract Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been prepared using the polyacrylic acid (PAA) as host polymer and hexanal, heptanal, and nonanal as pattern molecules. MIPs were employed as selective coating layer of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors. Hexanal, heptanal, and nonanal were opted as target chemicals after gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC–MS) characterization of Body Odor samples. Transient and static responses of four QCM sensors (three coated with MIPs and one with non-MIP) to target aldehydes in singly, binary and tertiary mixtures, and water at distinct concentrations have been measured. Transient responses were analyzed to compute the response time ( t on ), and recovery time ( t off ) of sensors. This result average values of t on ≈ 5 s and t off ≈ 10 s to typical concentrations of target Odors. The sensitivity and baseline drift of sensors were also calculated using their static response. The heptanal template molecule based MIP coated QCM exhibit improved sensitivity, reproducibility and faster response, than the rest two MIPs, and non-MIP coated QCMs. Static sensors response matrices were further processed with principal component analysis (PCA) for qualitative (visual) discrimination and support vector machine (SVM) classifier for quantitative recognition (in %) of target aldehydes: in singly, binary and tertiary mixtures. Aldehydes Odor was effectively identified in principal component (PC) space. Maximum recognition rate of 89% has been achieved for three classes of binary Odors, and 79% for the combination of single, binary and tertiary Odor classes in 3-fold cross-validation of SVM classifier.
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ISSNIP - Data fusion approach for human Body Odor discrimination using GC-MS spectra
2014 IEEE Ninth International Conference on Intelligent Sensors Sensor Networks and Information Processing (ISSNIP), 2014Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Masahiro Imahashi, Kenshi Hayashi, Tadashi TakamizawaAbstract:This study deals with data fusion approach to search discriminating biomarker volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) in Body Odor for individual differentiation. Particularly we have employed kernel principal component analysis (KPCA) combined with majority voting method to build up novel data fusion strategy. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) characterizes human Body Odor samples to find out the VOCs composition (alcohols, acids, aldehydes, esters, ketones, carbonyl compounds, sulfides and hydrocarbons etc.). Peak number and related area value of VOCs from the GC-MS spectra of Body Odor extract is used for analysis. GC-MS data from three experiments, based on Body Odor samples of four persons (different age groups) in dissimilar conditions are collected. Optimal set of peak numbers are selected with fusion approach. Linear PCA is used in validation of elected peak numbers for discrimination of individual's Body Odor. The opted peaks result satisfactory differentiation of individual's Body Odor in feature space. Thereafter biomarker VOCs are affirmed by matching corresponding peak number in GC-MS spectra. Analysis outcomes conclude particular set of biomarker VOCs for each experiment.
Sunil Kr. Jha - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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molecular structural discrimination of chemical compounds in Body Odor using their gc ms chromatogram and clustering methods
International Journal of Mass Spectrometry, 2017Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Kenshi HayashiAbstract:Abstract In the present study, Body Odor samples have been collected according to different sampling protocols and characterized using the gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS) technique with the objective to investigate the existence of different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) belonging to several chemical classes in Body Odor composition. Moreover, the characterization outcomes have been validated by analyzing spectral information using substantial clustering methods. Specifically, the data matrix based on peak height of chemical compounds in each experiment has been analyzed by using six clustering methods, including principal component analysis (PCA), k-means clustering, fuzzy c-means clustering, hierarchical cluster analysis, fuzzy clustering, and k-medoids clustering. Chemical compounds were well clustered into several groups with each of the implemented clustering methods which endorse the experimental characterization outcomes and establishes the existence of VOCs from multiple chemical classes in Body Odor composition.
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Characterization of human Body Odor and identification of aldehydes using chemical sensor
Reviews in Analytical Chemistry, 2016Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. JhaAbstract:AbstractHuman Body Odor is a unique identity feature of individual as well as an established composite of numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) belonging to significant chemical classes. Several analytical methods have been used in the characterization of human Body Odor in order to recognize the chemical composition of VOCs in medical, forensic, and biometric applications. Besides, real-time sensing systems (based on the chemical sensors) are being researched and developed for qualitative and quantitative recognition of VOCs in Body Odor. The present review focuses the state-of-the-art research outcomes related to the characterization of human Body Odor with the objective to identify the VOCs belonging to aldehyde class. Furthermore, the application of chemical sensors in past studies for the detection of aldehydes besides other chemical compounds in Body Odor is summarized and the significance of aldehydes detection in different applications is discussed.
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a quick responding quartz crystal microbalance sensor array based on molecular imprinted polyacrylic acids coating for selective identification of aldehydes in Body Odor
Talanta, 2015Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Kenshi HayashiAbstract:Abstract In present work, a novel quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensor array has been developed for prompt identification of primary aldehydes in human Body Odor. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) are prepared using the polyacrylic acid (PAA) polymer matrix and three organic acids (propenoic acid, hexanoic acid and octanoic acid) as template molecules, and utilized as QCM surface coating layer. The performance of MIP films is characterized by 4-element QCM sensor array (three coated with MIP layers and one with pure PAA for reference) dynamic and static responses to target aldehydes: hexanal, heptanal, and nonanal in single, binary, and tertiary mixtures at distinct concentrations. The target aldehydes were selected subsequent to characterization of Body Odor samples with solid phase-micro extraction gas chromatography mass spectrometer (SPME-GC–MS). The hexanoic acid and octanoic acid imprinted PAA exhibit fast response, and better sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility than the propenoic acid, and non-imprinted PAA in array. The response time and recovery time for hexanoic acid imprinted PAA are obtained as 5 s and 12 s respectively to typical concentrations of binary and tertiary mixtures of aldehydes using the static response. Dynamic sensor array response matrix has been processed with principal component analysis (PCA) for visual, and support vector machine (SVM) classifier for quantitative identification of target Odors. Aldehyde Odors were identified successfully in principal component (PC) space. SVM classifier results maximum recognition rate 79% for three classes of binary Odors and 83% including single, binary, and tertiary Odor classes in 3-fold cross validation.
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Human Body Odor discrimination by GC-MS spectra data mining
Analytical Methods, 2015Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Ninoslav Marina, Chuanjun Liu, Kenshi HayashiAbstract:The present study explores individual identity perception by analyzing the chemical peak information in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) spectra of Body Odor samples with standard data mining approaches. Mainly, the principal component analysis (PCA) method is chosen for the visual discrimination of the Body Odor samples in feature space. PCA in combination with the support vector machine (SVM) method is used for quantitative recognition. GC-MS characterization confirms the composition of numerous chemical species (aldehydes, acids, ketones, esters, sulfides etc.) in the Body Odor samples. The GC-MS spectra of Body Odor samples from the armpit and neck of three people (from dissimilar age groups) at two different sampling times (0 h and 4 h) were recorded in the experiment. A few blank (non-Body Odor) samples were also characterized with GC-MS and included as references in further analysis by the data mining methods. The discrimination efficiency (both qualitative and quantitative) for the individual Body Odors was evaluated for (i) three variables of chemical information in the GC-MS spectra (the peak area, peak height and ratio of peak area to height); (ii) two sampling times (0 h and 4 h); and (iii) two sampling parts of the Body (the neck and armpit). The best visual discrimination of the individual Body Odors has been achieved using the peak height as a variable for the neck Odor with a sampling time of 4 h. This result has been established with class separability measures calculated with principal component (PC) scores and SVM classification outcomes (86%).
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polyacrylic acid polymer and aldehydes template molecule based mips coated qcm sensors for detection of pattern aldehydes in Body Odor
Sensors and Actuators B-chemical, 2015Co-Authors: Sunil Kr. Jha, Kenshi HayashiAbstract:Abstract Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been prepared using the polyacrylic acid (PAA) as host polymer and hexanal, heptanal, and nonanal as pattern molecules. MIPs were employed as selective coating layer of quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) sensors. Hexanal, heptanal, and nonanal were opted as target chemicals after gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC–MS) characterization of Body Odor samples. Transient and static responses of four QCM sensors (three coated with MIPs and one with non-MIP) to target aldehydes in singly, binary and tertiary mixtures, and water at distinct concentrations have been measured. Transient responses were analyzed to compute the response time ( t on ), and recovery time ( t off ) of sensors. This result average values of t on ≈ 5 s and t off ≈ 10 s to typical concentrations of target Odors. The sensitivity and baseline drift of sensors were also calculated using their static response. The heptanal template molecule based MIP coated QCM exhibit improved sensitivity, reproducibility and faster response, than the rest two MIPs, and non-MIP coated QCMs. Static sensors response matrices were further processed with principal component analysis (PCA) for qualitative (visual) discrimination and support vector machine (SVM) classifier for quantitative recognition (in %) of target aldehydes: in singly, binary and tertiary mixtures. Aldehydes Odor was effectively identified in principal component (PC) space. Maximum recognition rate of 89% has been achieved for three classes of binary Odors, and 79% for the combination of single, binary and tertiary Odor classes in 3-fold cross-validation of SVM classifier.
Simone G. Shamay-tsoory - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Women’s Body Odor during Ovulation Improves Social Perception in Single Men
Chemical senses, 2019Co-Authors: Chen Oren, Simone G. Shamay-tsooryAbstract:Previous research has shown that men's mating motivation may increase following exposure to women's Body Odor during ovulation. In the current study, we examined whether exposure to women's fertility Odor cues influences social perception among men, while focusing on the role of men's relationship status in moderating this reaction. We collected Body Odor samples from 43 women during ovulation and during the luteal phase and exposed 85 men to these Odor samples while they performed an emotion recognition task and an interpersonal perception task. Single men were better at recognizing emotional facial expressions following exposure to Odor cues of high fertility as compared with Odor cues of low fertility. No such effect was identified in pair-bonded men. In support of this finding, single men became more accurate on the interpersonal perception task following exposure to Odor cues of high fertility, while pair-bonded men became less accurate after such exposure. Collectively, the results suggest that exposure to women's fertility Odor cues improves social perception among single men, while it impairs such perception among pair-bonded men. We suggest that these effects may result from increased mating motivation following exposure to Odor cues of fertility, which in turn encourages accurate social perception among single men while promoting an avoidant attitude toward social stimuli among pair-bonded men.
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Preliminary evidence of olfactory signals of women’s fertility increasing social avoidance behavior towards women in pair-bonded men
Scientific Reports, 2017Co-Authors: Chen Oren, Simone G. Shamay-tsooryAbstract:Previous studies suggest that women’s Body Odor is perceived as more attractive during ovulation and that exposure to women’s chemical signals of high fertility leads to increased mating motivation. Given that pair-bonded men react differently than single men to unfamiliar women, we investigated whether women’s chemical signals of fertility influence approach behavior among pair-bonded and single men. In the first experiment, men performed the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance task while exposed to Body Odor samples from women who were ovulating and from the same women during their luteal phase. We found that in the presence of the Body Odor from ovulation, pair-bonded, but not single men, maintained greater distance from different protagonists, particularly from women. In a second experiment we exposed men to women’s Body Odors while they rated the attractiveness and beauty of women’s faces. Although the ratings of women’s beauty did not differ across Odor conditions, when the pair-bonded men were exposed to the high fertility Odor they rated highly attractive women as less sexually attractive. The results suggest that exposure to fertility cues from unfamiliar women may trigger social avoidance in pair-bonded men, an outcome that may result from identifying such cues as threats to their relationship.
Agnieszka Sorokowska - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Children's Body Odors: Hints to the Development Status.
Frontiers in psychology, 2020Co-Authors: Laura Schäfer, Agnieszka Sorokowska, Kerstin Weidner, Ilona CroyAbstract:Mothers can recognize their own children by Body Odor. Besides signaling familiarity, children’s Body Odors may provide other information relevant to maternal caregiving behavior, such as the child’s developmental status. Thus, we explored whether mothers are able to classify Body-Odors on pre- vs. postpubertal status above chance levels. In total, 164 mothers were presented with Body Odor samples of their own and four unfamiliar, sex-matched children who varied in age (range 0 to 18 years). Pubertal status was measured by a) determining the child’s steroid hormone level and b) parental assessment of the child’s developmental stage using the Pubertal Development Scale. Mothers classified developmental status with an accuracy of about 64%. Maternal assessments were biased towards pre-puberty. Classification was predicted by perceptual evaluation of the Body Odor (i.e., intensity and pleasantness) and by the child’s developmental stage, but not by hormones. In specific, mothers with pubertal-aged children classified Body Odors using the child’s developmental status, whereas mothers with younger children only classified Body Odors using perceptual information (i.e., intensity, pleasantness). Our data suggests that Body Odors convey developmental cues, but how this developmental information is manifested in Body Odor remains unclear.
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Body-Odor based assessments of sex and personality - Non-significant differences between blind and sighted Odor raters.
Physiology & behavior, 2019Co-Authors: Agnieszka Sorokowska, Anna OleszkiewiczAbstract:People exhibit different sensitivity to the signaling properties of Body Odors in the social context. Here, we aimed to investigate whether visual status modulates sensitivity to socially-relevant cues carried by Body Odors and whether it affects psychophysical ratings of such smells. We compared abilities of 19 early-blind, 9 late-blind and 13 sighted people to accurately assess sex, neuroticism and dominance of Odor donors based on Body Odor samples. We showed that early blind, late blind and sighted people do not differ in accuracy of sex and personality assessments based on Body Odor samples. Additionally, the three participating groups perceived the presented Body Odor samples as similarly intense, pleasant and attractive. We discuss our findings in the context of interpersonal olfactory communication and olfactory compensation.
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Human Leukocyte Antigen similarity decreases partners' and strangers' Body Odor attractiveness for women not using hormonal contraception.
Hormones and behavior, 2018Co-Authors: Agnieszka Sorokowska, Thomas Hummel, Diana Pietrowski, Laura Schäfer, Jana Kromer, Alexander H. Schmidt, Jürgen Sauter, Ilona CroyAbstract:The Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) is a gene complex that encodes important elements of the human immune system. HLA profile is communicated via olfaction and interindividual diversity is assumed to be advantageous for mate choice. Additionally, HLA diversity appears to enhance satisfaction and sexual attraction in existing romantic partnerships. However, whether this effect is transmitted via Body Odors and whether it results in an attraction towards HLA-dissimilar individuals and/or an avoidance of HLA-similar ones remains unclear. In the present study, we genotyped couples and asked each participant to rate a Body Odor sample from their partner and from three strangers of the opposite sex who expressed a similar or dissimilar HLA-B and HLA-C genotype. We found no statistically significant preference for HLA similarity or dissimilarity in men. Among women, the observed effects differed depending on hormonal contraception status. Like men, women on hormonal contraception did not exhibit significant HLA-related preferences. However, for women not using hormonal contraceptives, Odors from HLA-B and HLA-C similar donors were significantly less attractive than those from HLA-dissimilar donors, regardless of whether the samples were from a partner or a stranger. Our findings support the hypothesis that HLA similarity is perceived via Body Odors and that such similarity affects human attraction. This mechanism may serve an evolutionarily adaptive function in preventing prospective offspring from having decreased immunocompetence, or decreasing the chance of kin mating.
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Body Odor Trait Disgust Sensitivity Predicts Perception of Sweat Biosamples.
Chemical senses, 2017Co-Authors: Marco Tullio Liuzza, Jonas K. Olofsson, Agnieszka Sabiniewicz, Agnieszka SorokowskaAbstract:Body Odors are potent triggers of disgust and regulate social behaviors in many species. The role of olfaction in disgust-associated behaviors has received scant attention in the research literature, in part because olfactory disgust assessments have required laboratory testing with Odors. We have devised the "Body Odor Disgust Scale" (BODS) to facilitate research on olfactory disgust. In this study, we evaluated whether individual differences in BODS scores would be associated with the perception of disgust for sweat samples in a laboratory setting. Results show that BODS was a strong predictor of disgust ratings of sweat samples even when controlling for general disgust sensitivity. In contrast, Odor intensity ratings were unrelated to BODS scores. Our findings suggest that the BODS scores reflect Body Odor disgust perception. The BODS scale might facilitate research on olfactory disgust responses and associated behaviors.
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Body Odor Based Personality Judgments: The Effect of Fragranced Cosmetics.
Frontiers in psychology, 2016Co-Authors: Agnieszka Sorokowska, Piotr Sorokowski, Jan HavlíčekAbstract:People can accurately assess various personality traits of others based on Body Odor alone. Previous studies have shown that correlations between Odor ratings and self-assessed personality dimensions are evident for assessments of neuroticism and dominance. Here, we tested differences between assessments based on natural Body Odor alone, without the use of cosmetics and assessments based on the Body Odor of people who were allowed to use cosmetics following their daily routine. Sixty-seven female observers assessed samples of Odors from 113 Odor donors (each Odor donor provided two samples – one with and one without cosmetic use); the donors provided their personality ratings, and the raters judged personality characteristics of the donors based on the provided Odor samples. Correlations between observers’ ratings and self-rated neuroticism were stronger when raters assessed Body Odor in the natural Body Odor condition (natural BO condition; rs = .20) than in the cosmetics use condition (BO+cosmetics condition; rs = .15). Ratings of dominance significantly predicted self-assessed dominance in both conditions (rs = .34 for natural BO and rs = .21 for BO+cosmetics), whereas ratings of extraversion did not predict self-assessed extraversion in either condition. In addition, ratings of Body Odor attractiveness and pleasantness were significantly lower in natural BO condition than in BO+cosmetics condition, although the intensity of donors’ Body Odors was similar under both conditions. Our findings suggest that although olfaction seems to contribute to accurate first impression judgments of certain personality traits, cosmetic use can affect assessments of others based on Body Odor.
S. Craig Roberts - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Individual Variation in Body Odor
Springer Handbook of Odor, 2017Co-Authors: Jan Havlíček, Jitka Fialová, S. Craig RobertsAbstract:Humans produce numerous volatile compounds from different areas of the Body, either as a direct result of metabolic processes or indirectly via metabolismof resident microflora. Body Odors vary between individuals, partly due to genetic differences, but Odors of the same individual also vary across time due to environmental influences. We discuss how at least part of the genetic influence appears to be related to certain personality characteristics and to sexual orientation. We then review the current state of the art in terms of intraindividual variation, including effects of intrinsic factors, such as hormonal influences on Body Odor and environmental factors, namely effects of diet and certain diseases. Some of these changes can be perceived by other individuals and might therefore provide social cues of current motivational, nutritional, and health status. Finally, we discuss how specific Odor profiles associated with certain infectious diseases and metabolic disorders can be used as a cheap and efficient medical screening tool
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The impact of artificial fragrances on the assessment of mate quality cues in Body Odor
Evolution and Human Behavior, 2016Co-Authors: Caroline Allen, Jan Havlíček, Kelly D. Cobey, S. Craig RobertsAbstract:Abstract Cultural practices may either enhance or interfere with evolved preferences as predicted by culture–gene coevolution theory. Here, we investigated the impact of artificial fragrances on the assessment of biologically relevant information in human Body Odor. To do this, we examined cross-sensory consistency (across faces and Odors) in the perception of masculinity and femininity in men and women, and how consistency is influenced by the use of artificial fragrance. Independent sets of same and opposite-sex participants rated Odor samples (with and without a fragrance, n =239 raters), and photographs ( n =130) of 20 men and 20 women. In female, but not male raters, judgments of masculinity/femininity of non-fragranced Odor and faces were correlated. However, the correlation between female ratings of male facial and Odor masculinity was not evident when assessing a fragranced Body Odor. Further analysis also indicated that differences in ratings of male Odor masculinity between men with high and low levels of facial masculinity were not present in fragranced Body Odor samples. This effect was absent in ratings of female Odors by both female and male raters, suggesting sex-specificity in the effects of fragrance on Odor perception. Our findings suggest that women may be more attentive to these Odor cues, and therefore also to disruption of this information through fragrance use. Our results show that cultural practices might both enhance and interfere with evolved preferences.
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Effect of fragrance use on discrimination of individual Body Odor.
Frontiers in psychology, 2015Co-Authors: Caroline Allen, Jan Havlíček, S. Craig RobertsAbstract:Previous research suggests that artificial fragrances may be chosen to complement or enhance an individual's Body Odor, rather than simply masking it, and that this may create an Odor blend with an emergent quality that is perceptually distinguishable from Body Odor or fragrance alone. From this, it can be predicted that a new emergent Odor might be more easily identified than an individual's Body Odor in isolation. We used a triangle test paradigm to assess whether fragrance affects people's ability to distinguish between individual Odors. Six male and six female donors provided axillary Odor samples in three conditions (without fragrance, wearing their own fragrance, and wearing an assigned fragrance). In total, 296 female and 131 male participants selected the odd one from three Odor samples (two from one donor, one from another; both of the same sex). We found that participants could discriminate between the Odors at above chance levels in all three Odor conditions. Olfactory identification ability (measured using Sniffin' Sticks) positively predicted discrimination performance, and sex differences in performance were also observed, with female raters being correct more often than men. Success rates were also higher for Odors of male donors. Additionally, while performance was above chance in all conditions, individual Odor discrimination varied across the three conditions. Discrimination rate was significantly higher in the "no fragrance" condition than either of the fragranced conditions. Importantly, however, discrimination rate was also significantly higher in the "own fragrance" condition than the "assigned fragrance" condition, suggesting that naturally occurring variance in Body Odor is more preserved when blended with fragrances that people choose for themselves, compared with other fragrances. Our data are consistent with the idea that fragrance choices are influenced by fragrance interactions with an individual's own Body Odor.
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Does Length of Sampling Affect Quality of Body Odor Samples
Chemosensory Perception, 2011Co-Authors: Jan Havlíček, Pavlina Lenochova, Elisabeth Oberzaucher, Karl Grammer, S. Craig RobertsAbstract:A number of recent studies use Body Odor samples to study how Odor affects various human social interactions. However, the methods used vary considerably, and only limited attention has been paid to the validity of the particular approaches adopted. One of the crucial points in Body Odor sampling is its length. Here we report the results of a study that tested the effects of using two different sampling periods, namely 12 and 24 h, on subsequent Odor perception. Our results show significantly higher ratings of pleasantness and attractiveness, and lower ratings of intensity and masculinity, for the 12-h sampling condition. Further analysis of the data distribution suggests higher skew and a potential floor effect in hedonic ratings derived from the 24-h condition. These data imply that sampling length has a significant impact on perceived Body Odor quality and should thus be considered when designing studies in this area and in interpretation of results across studies.
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Body Odor quality predicts behavioral attractiveness in humans
Archives of sexual behavior, 2011Co-Authors: S. Craig Roberts, Camille Ferdenzi, Alexandra Kralevich, Tamsin K. Saxton, Benedict C. Jones, Lisa M. Debruine, Anthony C. Little, Jan HavlíčekAbstract:Growing effort is being made to understand how different attractive physical traits co-vary within individuals, partly because this might indicate an underlying index of genetic quality. In humans, attention has focused on potential markers of quality such as facial attractiveness, axillary Odor quality, the second-to-fourth digit (2D:4D) ratio and Body mass index (BMI). Here we extend this approach to include visually-assessed kinesic cues (nonverbal behavior linked to movement) which are statistically independent of structural physical traits. The utility of such kinesic cues in mate assessment is controversial, particularly during everyday conversational contexts, as they could be unreliable and susceptible to deception. However, we show here that the attractiveness of nonverbal behavior, in 20 male participants, is predicted by perceived quality of their axillary Body Odor. This finding indicates covariation between two desirable traits in different sensory modalities. Depending on two different rating contexts (either a simple attractiveness rating or a rating for long-term partners by 10 female raters not using hormonal contraception), we also found significant relationships between perceived attractiveness of nonverbal behavior and BMI, and between axillary Odor ratings and 2D:4D ratio. Axillary Odor pleasantness was the single attribute that consistently predicted attractiveness of nonverbal behavior. Our results demonstrate that nonverbal kinesic cues could reliably reveal mate quality, at least in males, and could corroborate and contribute to mate assessment based on other physical traits.