Intraspecific communication involves the activation of chemoreceptors and subsequent activation of different central areas that coordinate the responses of the entire organism—ranging from behavioral modification to modulation of hormones release. Animals emit intraspecific chemical signals, often referred to as pheromones, to advertise their presence to members of the same species and to regulate interactions aimed at establishing and regulating social and reproductive bonds.

In the last two decades, scientists have developed a greater understanding of the neural processing of these chemical signals. Neurobiology of Chemical Communication explores the role of the chemical senses in mediating intraspecific communication. Providing an up-to-date outline of the most recent advances in the field, it presents data from laboratory and wild species, ranging from invertebrates to vertebrates, from insects to humans.

The book examines the structure, anatomy, electrophysiology, and molecular biology of pheromones. It discusses how chemical signals work on different mammalian and non-mammalian species and includes chapters on insects, Drosophila, honey bees, amphibians, mice, tigers, and cattle. It also explores the controversial topic of human pheromones.

An essential reference for students and researchers in the field of pheromones, this is also an ideal resource for those working on behavioral phenotyping of animal models and persons interested in the biology/ecology of wild and domestic species.

Contents

• Series Preface
• Preface
• Editor
• Contributors
• 1. Introduction to Chemical Signaling in Vertebrates and Invertebrates
  Tristram D Wyatt.
  • 1.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.2 DISCOVERING PHEROMONES
  • 1.3 PHEROMONES EVOLVE FROM CHEMICAL CUES
  • 1.4 PHEROMONE SPECIFICITY AND SPECIATION
  • 1.5 RECEPTION AND PROCESSING OF CHEMICAL SIGNALS
  • 1.6 PHEROMONES AND OLFACTION
  • 1.7 RELEASER AND PRIMER EFFECTS
  • 1.8 ARE PHEROMONES INNATE?
  • 1.9 HUMAN PHEROMONES?
  • 1.10 APPLICATIONS OF PHEROMONES
  • 1.11 CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 2. Pheromones and General Odor Perception in Insects
  Michel Renou.
  • 2.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 2.2 PERIPHERAL AND CENTRAL ARCHITECTURES OF THE INSECT OLFACTORY SYSTEM
  • 2.3 NEURAL CODING OF ODOR SIGNALS
  • 2.4 ODOR INTERACTIONS AND THE CODING OF COMPLEX BLENDS
  • 2.5 VARIABLE RESPONSES TO FIXED OLFACTORY SIGNALS
  • 2.6 FACING POORLY SPECIFIC OR VARIABLE SIGNALS
  • 2.7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • REFERENCES
• 3. First Investigation of the Semiochemistry of South African Dung Beetle Species
  Barend (Ben) Victor Burger.
  • 3.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 3.2 CHEMICAL ECOLOGY OF THE GENUS KHEPER
  • 3.3 COLLECTION OF THE ABDOMINAL SECRETION
  • 3.4 SAMPLE PREPARATION AND ANALYSIS
  • 3.5 OPTIMIZATION OF GC-FID/EAD INSTRUMENTATION
  • 3.6 CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ABDOMINAL SECRETIONS OF THE MALE KHEPER SPECIES
  • 3.7 LONG-CHAIN CONSTITUENTS OF THE ABDOMINAL SECRETIONS
  • 3.8 COMPOSITION OF THE PHEROMONE-DISSEMINATING CARRIER MATERIAL
  • 3.9 INTERGENERIC AND INTERSPECIFIC CHEMICAL SIGNALING IN DUNG BEETLES
  • 3.10 PECULIAR BEHAVIOR IN P. FEMORALIS
  • 3.11 DEFENSIVE MECHANISMS IN ONITICELLUS EGREGIUS
  • 3.12 CONCLUSIONS, PERSPECTIVES, AND PROSPECTS
  • REFERENCES
• 4. Pheromone Reception in Insects: The Example of Silk Moths
  Karl-Ernst Kaissling.
  • 4.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 4.2 ASPECTS OF PHEROMONE COMMUNICATION
  • 4.3 INSECT ANTENNAE AND OLFACTORY SENSILLA
  • 4.4 ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
  • 4.5 SENSITIVITY OF PHEROMONE RECEPTOR NEURONS AND BEHAVIORAL RESPONSES
  • 4.6 ELEMENTARY RECEPTOR POTENTIALS
  • 4.7 INHIBITION OF PHEROMONE RECEPTOR NEURONS
  • 4.8 CONCENTRATION DETECTORS AND FLUX DETECTORS
  • 4.9 OLFACTORY TRANSDUCTION, EXTRACELLULAR
  • 4.10 DIFFUSION ON THE HAIRS
  • 4.11 KINETIC MODEL
  • 4.12 FIVE FUNCTIONS OF THE PHEROMONE BINDING PROTEIN
  • 4.13 PHEROMONE DEGRADATION AND DEACTIVATION
  • 4.14 RECEPTOR MOLECULES, ION CHANNELS, AND SENSORY NEURON MEMBRANE PROTEIN
  • 4.15 OLFACTORY TRANSDUCTION, INTRACELLULAR
  • 4.16 TEMPORAL CODING
  • REFERENCES
• 5. Chemical Communication in the Honey Bee Society
  Laura Bortolotti and Cecilia Costa.
  • 5.1 PHEROMONES OF THE HONEY BEE COLONY
  • 5.2 NEUROPHYSIOLOGY OF CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION: PHEROMONE PROCESSING IN THE BEE BRAIN
  • 5.3 CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • REFERENCES
• 6. Drosophila Pheromones: From Reception to Perception
  Wynand van der Goes van Naters.
  • 6.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 6.2 OLFACTORY SENSILLA
  • 6.3 RESPONSES OF TRICHOID ORNs IN DROSOPHILA TO FLY ODORS
  • 6.4 MOLECULAR BASIS OF ODOR RESPONSE IN TRICHOID SENSILLA
  • 6.5 DROSOPHILA PHEROMONES IN COURTSHIP AND AGGRESSION
  • REFERENCES
• 7. How Drosophila Detect Volatile Pheromones: Signaling, Circuits, and Behavior
  Samarpita Sengupta and Dean P Smith.
  • 7.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 7.2 cVA-INDUCED BEHAVIORS
  • 7.3 OTHER DROSOPHILA PHEROMONES
  • 7.4 LEARNING MODULATES HARD-WIRED PHEROMONE BEHAVIORS
  • 7.5 CONTACT CHEMORECEPTION
  • 7.6 FUTURE PROSPECTS
  • REFERENCES
• 8. Chemical Signaling in Amphibians
  Sarah K Woodley.
  • 8.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 8.2 PRODUCTION OF AMPHIBIAN CHEMOSIGNALS
  • 8.3 AMPHIBIAN CHEMOSIGNALS RELATED TO MATING
  • 8.4 AMPHIBIAN CHEMOSIGNALS RELATED TO TERRITORIALITY AND MALE–MALE INTERACTIONS
  • 8.5 CHEMOSIGNAL DETECTION
  • 8.6 FUTURE DIRECTIONS AND CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • REFERENCES
• 9. Vomeronasal Organ: A Short History of Discovery and an Account of Development and Morphology in the Mouse
  Carlo Zancanaro.
  • 9.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
  • 9.2 ESSENTIALS OF VOMERONASAL ORGAN ANATOMY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY
  • 9.3 MORPHOLOGY OF THE MOUSE VOMERONASAL ORGAN
  • REFERENCES
• 10. Vomeronasal Receptors and Signal Transduction in the Vomeronasal Organ of Mammals
  Simona Francia, Simone Pifferi, Anna Menini, and Roberto Tirindelli.
  • 10.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 10.2 PHEROMONE RECEPTORS
  • 10.3 SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION MECHANISMS
  • REFERENCES
• 11. Central Processing of Intraspecific Chemical Signals in Mice
  Carla Mucignat-Caretta.
  • 11.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 11.2 CHEMOSIGNALS MODULATE VARIOUS NEUROHORMONAL DOMAINS IN MICE
  • 11.3 CHEMOSENSORY SYSTEMS MEDIATING DETECTION OF INTRASPECIFIC SIGNALS
  • 11.4 SPECIFIC CIRCUITS INVOLVED IN DIFFERENT EFFECTS
  • 11.5 CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • REFERENCES
• 12. Molecular and Neural Mechanisms of Pheromone Reception in the Rat Vomeronasal System and Changes in the Pheromonal Reception by the Maturation and Sexual Experiences
  Makoto Kashiwayanagi.
  • 12.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 12.2 NEURAL PATHWAYS OF THE VOMERONASAL SYSTEM
  • 12.3 MINOR ROLE OF CYCLIC ADENOSINE MONOPHOSPHATE IN RAT PHEROMONE RECEPTION
  • 12.4 PHEROMONAL TRANSDUCTION MEDIATED VIA PHOSPHOLIPASE C IN THE MAMMALIAN VOMERONASAL SYSTEM
  • 12.5 PHEROMONAL TRANSDUCTION DEPENDENT AND INDEPENDENT ON TRPC2
  • 12.6 SELECTIVE PHEROMONE RECEPTION IN VSNs
  • 12.7 PHEROMONE RECEPTORS
  • 12.8 PROJECTION OF PHEROMONAL INFORMATION TO THE AOB
  • 12.9 INTERACTION BETWEEN SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND GONADAL HORMONES
  • 12.10 FUNCTIONAL CHANGES IN NEURONS AT THE AOB INDUCED BY SEXUAL EXPERIENCE
  • 12.11 GONADAL HORMONES INDUCES CHANGES IN BRAIN FUNCTIONS
  • 12.12 GONADAL HORMONES MODULATE GABAergic FUNCTIONS
  • 12.13 MODULATION OF REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIORS BY NEUROSTEROID VIA GABA_A RECEPTORS AT THE AOB
  • REFERENCES
• 13. Social Cues, Adult Neurogenesis, and Reproductive Behavior
  Paolo Peretto and Raúl G Paredes.
  • 13.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 13.2 REPRODUCTIVE AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR MODULATES ADULT NEUROGENESIS
  • 13.3 ROLE OF AOB NEWBORN NEURONS IN THE PHEROMONAL MATING-INDUCED IMPRINTING
  • 13.4 PACED MATING AND NEUROGENESIS IN THE AOB OF ADULT RATS
  • 13.5 CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • REFERENCES
• 14. Influence of Cat Odor on Reproductive Behavior and Physiology in the House Mouse: (Mus Musculus)
  Vera V Voznessenskaya.
  • 14.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 14.2 METHODS AND MATERIALS
  • 14.3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
  • 14.4 CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES
• 15. Pheromones of Tiger and Other Big Cats
  Mousumi Poddar-Sarkar and Ratan Lal Brahmachary.
  • 15.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 15.2 HISTORICAL ASPECTS
  • 15.3 PHENOMENON OF CHEMICAL SIGNALING: PHYSIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
  • 15.4 SEMIOCHEMICALS AS STIMULI
  • 15.5 HOME RANGE AND TERRITORIES
  • 15.6 SCENT MARKING IN BIG CATS
  • 15.7 MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX OF GENES AND INDIVIDUALITY IN PHEROMONAL SIGNALS OF BIG CATS
  • 15.8 GENOMICS, PROTEOMICS, AND METABOLOMICS IN PHEROMONE RESEARCH OF BIG CATS: THE SEARCH FOR THE EVOLUTIONARY LINEAGE AND LINKAGE OF BIG-CAT POPULATION
  • 15.9 QUANTITATIVE APPROACH FOR UNDERSTANDING THE TERRITORY AND HOME-RANGE IN THE TIGER COMMUNITY
  • 15.10 CHEMISTRY RELATED TO MF OF THE TIGER AND OTHER BIG CATS
  • 15.11 REVIEW AND CONCLUSIONS: FIFTY YEARS OF PHEROMONE RESEARCH OF BIG CATS
  • 15.12 MANY UNSOLVED PROBLEMS
  • REFERENCES
• 16. Cattle Pheromones
  Govindaraju Archunan, Swamynathan Rajanarayanan, and Kandasamy Karthikeyan.
  • 16.1 ABSTRACT
  • 16.2 INTRODUCTION
  • 16.3 BIOSTIMULATION
  • 16.4 COW PHEROMONES: SOURCES AND IDENTIFICATION OF CHEMOSIGNALS
  • 16.5 BUFFALO PHEROMONES
  • 16.6 BOAR PHEROMONES
  • 16.7 SMALL RUMINANT PHEROMONES: GOAT AND SHEEP
  • 16.8 HORSE PHEROMONES
  • 16.9 ODORANT BINDING PROTEINS IN CATTLE
  • 16.10 APPLICATION OF PHEROMONES IN CATTLE
  • 16.11 FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
  • REFERENCES
• 17. Pheromones for Newborns
  Benoist Schaal.
  • 17.1 INEXPERIENCED NEWBORNS’ QUEST FOR COLOSTRUM AND MILK
  • 17.2 NIPPLES AS SCENT ORGANS EVOLUTIONARILY TAILORED FOR NEWBORNS
  • 17.3 NEONATAL OLFACTORY COGNITION: LEARNING AND PREDISPOSITIONS
  • 17.4 ETHOCHEMICAL LOGIC TO DECONSTRUCT MAMMARY ODORS
  • 17.5 EVIDENCE FOR PHEROMONES IN MAMMARY CHEMOSTIMULI?
  • 17.6 MAMMARY CHEMOSTIMULI AS ONTOGENETIC ADAPTATIONS
  • 17.7 CONCLUSION: MAMMALIAN NEONATES AS MODELS TO UNCOVER HOW AND WHEN CHEMORECEPTIVE SYSTEMS MAKE SENSE OF ODOR CUES AND SIGNALS
  • REFERENCES
• 18. Pheromone Processing in Relation to Sex and Sexual Orientation
  Ivanka Savic.
  • 18.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 18.2 PHEROMONE PROCESSING IN MAMMALS
  • 18.3 DOES VNO EXIST IN HUMANS?
  • 18.4 IMAGING STUDIES OF HUMANS EXPOSED TO CHEMOSIGNALING COMPOUNDS WITH PHEROMONE-LIKE PROPERTIES
  • 18.5 ACTIVATION WITH PHEROMONE-LIKE COMPOUNDS IN RELATION TO SEXUAL ORIENTATION
  • 18.6 UNDERLYING MECHANISMS
  • 18.7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
  • REFERENCES
• 19. Human Pheromones: Do They Exist?
  Richard L Doty.
  • 19.1 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
  • 19.2 QUEST FOR DISCOVERING HUMAN PHEROMONES
  • 19.3 CONCLUSIONS
  • REFERENCES