|
''The Great Pheromone Myth''〔 〕 is a book on pheromones and their application to chemosensation in mammals by Richard Doty, director of the University of Pennsylvania's Smell and Taste Center in Philadelphia.〔 〕〔 〕〔 〕 Doty argues that the concept of ''pheromone'' introduced by Karlson and Lüscher is too simple for mammalian chemonsensory systems, failing to take into account learning and the context-dependence of chemosensation.〔〔 In this book, he is especially critical of human pheromones, arguing that not only are there no definitive studies finding human pheromones, but that humans lack a functional vomeronasal organ to detect pheromones.〔 Its publication received coverage in the news media, especially concerning its arguments that human pheromones do not exist.〔 〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://phys.org/news/2010-12-pheromones-myth-mammals.html ) 〕〔 〕〔 〕〔 〕〔 〕 ==The pheromone concept== Karlson and Lüscher defined ''pheromones'' "..as 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).〔 To distinguish pheromones from other substances that can stimulate behaviors such as the scents of flowers or food odors, they emphasize that pheromones are "special messenger substances" such as sexual attractants in butterflies and moths.〔 In their definition, pheromones are analogous to hormones such as testosterone or oxytocin, which are specific compounds.〔 However, while hormones serve as chemical messengers within an individual organism, pheromones carry messages between individuals. While the pheromone concept applies reasonably well to insects, Doty argues that there are serious problems with its application to mammals. The functions of pheromones, as specific types of compounds, are to produce unlearned, reflexive, and innate responses in recipients. Doty, however, argues that the chemical stimuli that mammals respond to are typically combinations of many compounds, that are sensed in complex social situations, and experience and learning are important for how mammals respond to chemical stimuli. For example, the Vandenbergh effect in mice occurs when puberty-accelerating pheromones are released in the urine of male mice. Doty shows that the effect depends on experience, that multiple compounds found in male mouse urine are involved in the effect, and the effect is not species specific since urine from male rats will also cause puberty acceleration in young female mice.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Great Pheromone Myth」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|