AI Article Synopsis

  • The term "pheromone" was established over 50 years ago, but research in identifying these chemical signals, especially in humans, remains complex and ongoing.
  • Recent studies suggest that pheromone-like chemicals could be vital for newborns to identify their mothers and the source of nourishment.
  • Specifically, odor patterns from women's sweat in certain body areas during and after pregnancy may help babies recognize their mothers at birth and later locate breast milk.

Article Abstract

Fifty years after the term "pheromone" was coined by Peter Karlson and Martin Lüsher the search for these semiochemicals is still an elusive goal of chemical ecology and communication studies. Contrary to what appears in the popular press, the race is still on to capture and define human scents. Over the last several years, it became increasingly clear that pheromone-like chemical signals probably play a role in offspring identification and mother recognition. Recently, we analyzed the volatile compounds in sweat patch samples collected from the para-axillary and nipple-areola regions of women during pregnancy and after childbirth. We hypothesized that, at the time of birth and during the first weeks of life, the distinctive olfactory pattern of the para-axillary area is probably useful to newborns for recognizing and distinguishing their own mother, whereas the characteristic pattern of the nipple-areola region is probably useful as a guide to nourishment.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2717541PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/cib.2.3.8227DOI Listing

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