Wunder Annkatrin, Bürkel Nele, Guder Imke, Zorzin José I, Mühle Christiane, Loos Helene M, Freiherr Jessica
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Schwabachanlage 6, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Chair of Aroma and Smell Research, Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Henkestrasse 9, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
Commun Chem. 2025 Apr 29;8(1):129. doi: 10.1038/s42004-025-01512-3.
Chemocommunication is important in human nonverbal communication. Behavioral effects of anxiety chemosignals on recipients are established but it is unknown whether odor sensitivity can be modulated by such stimuli. We tested recipients' sensitivity to phenylethyl alcohol (PEA) and n-butanol after exposure to anxiety chemosignals, neutral chemosignals and blank condition. As fourth condition, a horror movie was shown, to compare the effects of visual stimuli and chemosignals on odor sensitivity. Odor sensitivity for PEA was significantly increased by anxiety chemosignals compared to blank condition. No change in odor sensitivity was evident for n-butanol. We also investigated the composition of the applied chemosensory stimuli using untargeted one-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and -olfactometry (GC-O). Considering GC-MS data, several compounds were found with significantly higher normalized peak areas in anxiety sweat samples compared to the neutral samples. GC-O analysis indicated that the carboxylic acids dodecanoic acid and 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid were potential main contributors to the odor of anxiety sweat samples, whereby tetradecanoic acid and patchouli alcohol were those of the odor of neutral sweat samples. This study provides evidence that anxiety chemosignals can improve odor sensitivity and constitutes a further step toward elucidating the composition of sweat samples used in chemical communication research.
化学信号交流在人类非语言交流中很重要。焦虑化学信号对接收者的行为影响已得到证实，但尚不清楚这种刺激是否能调节嗅觉敏感度。我们测试了接收者在暴露于焦虑化学信号、中性化学信号和空白条件后对苯乙醇（PEA）和正丁醇的敏感度。作为第四个条件，播放了一部恐怖电影，以比较视觉刺激和化学信号对嗅觉敏感度的影响。与空白条件相比，焦虑化学信号使对PEA的嗅觉敏感度显著提高。正丁醇的嗅觉敏感度没有明显变化。我们还使用非靶向一维气相色谱 - 质谱联用（GC - MS）和气相色谱 - 嗅觉测定法（GC - O）研究了所应用的化学感觉刺激的成分。考虑到GC - MS数据，发现与中性样本相比，焦虑汗液样本中有几种化合物的归一化峰面积显著更高。GC - O分析表明，十二烷酸和3 - 羟基 - 3 - 甲基己酸这两种羧酸是焦虑汗液样本气味的潜在主要贡献者，而十四烷酸和广藿香醇是中性汗液样本气味的主要贡献者。这项研究提供了证据表明焦虑化学信号可以提高嗅觉敏感度，并朝着阐明化学信号交流研究中使用的汗液样本成分迈出了进一步的一步。
