@article{ref1,
title="Sniffing the human body volatile hexadecanal blocks aggression in men but triggers aggression in women",
journal="Science advances",
year="2021",
author="Mishor, Eva and Amir, Daniel and Weiss, Tali and Honigstein, Danielle and Weissbrod, Aharon and Livne, Ethan and Gorodisky, Lior and Karagach, Shiri and Ravia, Aharon and Snitz, Kobi and Karawani, Diyala and Zirler, Rotem and Weissgross, Reut and Soroka, Timna and Endevelt-Shapira, Yaara and Agron, Shani and Rozenkrantz, Liron and Reshef, Netta and Furman-Haran, Edna and Breer, Heinz and Strotmann, Joerg and Uebi, Tatsuya and Ozaki, Mamiko and Sobel, Noam",
volume="7",
number="47",
pages="eabg1530-eabg1530",
abstract="In terrestrial mammals, body volatiles can effectively trigger or block conspecific aggression. Here, we tested whether hexadecanal (HEX), a human body volatile implicated as a mammalian-wide social chemosignal, affects human aggression. Using validated behavioral paradigms, we observed a marked dissociation: Sniffing HEX blocked aggression in men but triggered aggression in women. Next, using functional brain imaging, we uncovered a pattern of brain activity mirroring behavior: In both men and women, HEX increased activity in the left angular gyrus, an area implicated in perception of social cues. HEX then modulated functional connectivity between the angular gyrus and a brain network implicated in social appraisal (temporal pole) and aggressive execution (amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex) in a sex-dependent manner consistent with behavior: increasing connectivity in men but decreasing connectivity in women. These findings implicate sex-specific social chemosignaling at the mechanistic heart of human aggressive behavior.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2375-2548",
doi="10.1126/sciadv.abg1530",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abg1530"
}