Editing Pheromone (section)

=== Axillary steroids ===
Axillary steroids are produced by the [[Testicle|testes]], [[Ovary|ovaries]], [[apocrine]] glands, and [[adrenal gland]]s.<ref name= Hays>{{cite journal| vauthors = Hays WS | title= Human pheromones: have they been demonstrated?| journal= Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology| volume= 54| issue= 2| pages=89–97| year=2003| doi=10.1007/s00265-003-0613-4| s2cid= 37400635}}</ref> These chemicals are not biologically active until puberty when sex steroids influence their activity.<ref name= Mostafa>{{cite journal| vauthors = Mostafa T, El Khouly G, Hassan A | title= Pheromones in sex and reproduction: Do they have a role in humans?| journal= Journal of Advanced Research| volume= 3| issue=1| pages=1–9| year=2012| doi= 10.1016/j.jare.2011.03.003| doi-access= free}}</ref> The change in activity during puberty suggest that humans may communicate through odors.<ref name= Hays/> Several axillary steroids have been described as possible human pheromones: [[androstadienol]], [[androstadienone]], [[androstenol]], [[androstenone]], and [[androsterone]].
* Androstenol is the putative female pheromone.<ref name= Mostafa/> In a 1978 study by Kirk-Smith, people wearing surgical masks treated with androstenol or untreated were shown pictures of people, animals and buildings and asked to rate the pictures on attractiveness.<ref name= Kirk-Smith>{{cite journal| vauthors = Kirk-Smith M | title= Human social attitudes affected by androstenol| journal= Research Communications in Psychology, Psychiatry & Behavior| volume= 3| issue= 4| pages= 379–384| year= 1978 |issn=0362-2428}}</ref> Individuals with their masks treated with androstenol rated their photographs as being "warmer" and "more friendly".<ref name= Kirk-Smith/> The best-known case study involves the synchronization of [[menstrual cycle]]s among women based on unconscious odor cues, the ''[[McClintock effect]]'', named after the primary investigator, [[Martha McClintock]], of the University of Chicago.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = McClintock MK | title = Menstrual synchorony and suppression | journal = Nature | volume = 229 | issue = 5282 | pages = 244–245 | date = January 1971 | pmid = 4994256 | doi = 10.1038/229244a0 | s2cid = 4267390 | bibcode = 1971Natur.229..244M }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Stern K, McClintock MK | title = Regulation of ovulation by human pheromones | journal = Nature | volume = 392 | issue = 6672 | pages = 177–179 | date = March 1998 | pmid = 9515961 | doi = 10.1038/32408 | s2cid = 4426700 | bibcode = 1998Natur.392..177S }}.</ref> A group of women were exposed to a whiff of perspiration from other women. Depending on the time in the month the sweat was collected (before, during, or after ovulation) there was an association with the recipient woman's menstrual cycle to speed up or slow down. The 1971 study proposed two types of pheromone involved: "One, produced prior to ovulation, shortens the ovarian cycle; and the second, produced just at ovulation, lengthens the cycle". However, recent studies and reviews of the methodology have called the validity of her results and existence of menstrual synchronization into question.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Yang Z, Schank JC | title = Women do not synchronize their menstrual cycles | journal = Human Nature | volume = 17 | issue = 4 | pages = 433–447 | date = December 2006 | pmid = 26181612 | doi = 10.1007/s12110-006-1005-z | s2cid = 2316864 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Strassmann BI | title = Menstrual synchrony pheromones: cause for doubt | journal = Human Reproduction | volume = 14 | issue = 3 | pages = 579–580 | date = March 1999 | pmid = 10221677 | doi = 10.1093/humrep/14.3.579 | doi-access = free }}</ref>
* Androstenone is postulated to be secreted only by males as an attractant for women, and thought to be a positive [[Effector (biology)|effector]] for their mood. It seems to have different effects on women, depending on where a female is in her menstrual cycle, with the highest sensitivity to it during ovulation.<ref name= Mostafa/>  In 1983, study participants exposed to androstenone were shown to undergo changes in skin conductance.<ref name="Van Toller">{{cite journal | vauthors = Van Toller C, Kirk-Smith M, Wood N, Lombard J, Dodd GH | title = Skin conductance and subjective assessments associated with the odour of 5-alpha-androstan-3-one | journal = Biological Psychology | volume = 16 | issue = 1–2 | pages = 85–107 | year = 1983 | pmid = 6682682 | doi = 10.1016/0301-0511(83)90056-X | s2cid = 54325922 }}</ref> Androstenone has been found to be perceived as more pleasant to women during their time of ovulation.<ref name= Grammer/>
* Androstadienone seems to affect the limbic system and causes a positive reaction in women, improving mood.<ref name= Hays/> Responses to androstadienone depend on the individual and the environment they are in.<ref name= Hummer>{{cite journal | vauthors = Hummer TA, McClintock MK | title = Putative human pheromone androstadienone attunes the mind specifically to emotional information | journal = Hormones and Behavior | volume = 55 | issue = 4 | pages = 548–559 | date = April 2009 | pmid = 19470369 | doi = 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.01.002 | s2cid = 17022112 }}</ref> Androstadienone negatively influences{{how|date=February 2014}} the perception of pain in women.<ref name = Hummer/> Women tend to react positively after androstadienone presentation, while men react more negatively. In an experiment by Hummer and McClintock, androstadienone or a control odor was put on the upper lips of fifty males and females and they were tested for four effects of the pheromone: 1) automatic attention towards positive and negative facial expressions, 2) the strength of cognitive and emotional information as distractors in a simple reaction time task, 3) relative attention to social and nonsocial stimuli (i.e. neutral faces), and 4) mood and attentiveness in the absence of social interaction. Those treated with androstadienone drew more attention to towards emotional facial expressions and emotional words but no increased attention to neutral faces. These data suggest that androstadienone may increase attention to emotional information causing the individual to feel more focused. It is thought that androstadienone modulates on how the mind attends and processes information.<ref name= Hummer/>

While it may be expected on evolutionary grounds that humans have pheromones, these three molecules have yet to be rigorously proven to act as such. Research in this field has suffered from small sample sizes, [[publication bias]], false positives, and poor methodology.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wyatt TD | title = The search for human pheromones: the lost decades and the necessity of returning to first principles | journal = Proceedings. Biological Sciences | volume = 282 | issue = 1804 | pages = 20142994 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25740891 | pmc = 4375873 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2014.2994 }}</ref>