There has been accumulating evidence of human social chemo-signaling, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Considering the evolutionarily conserved roles of oxytocin and vasopressin in reproductive and social behaviors, we examined whether the two neuropeptides are involved in the subconscious processing of androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one and estra-1,3,5 (10),16-tetraen-3-ol, two human chemosignals that convey masculinity and femininity to the targeted recipients, respectively. Psychophysical data collected from 216 heterosexual and homosexual men across five experiments totaling 1056 testing sessions consistently showed that such chemosensory communications of masculinity and femininity were blocked by a competitive antagonist of both oxytocin and vasopressin receptors called atosiban, administered nasally. On the other hand, intranasal oxytocin, but not vasopressin, modulated the decoding of androstadienone and estratetraenol in manners that were dose-dependent, nonmonotonic, and contingent upon the recipients’ social proficiency. Taken together, these findings establish a causal link between neuroendocrine factors and subconscious chemosensory communications of sex-specific information in humans.

中文翻译：

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催产素以剂量依赖性方式调节人类对性的化学感应解码

人类社会化学信号传导的证据越来越多，但其潜在机制仍然知之甚少。考虑到催产素和加压素在生殖和社会行为中的进化保守作用，我们检查了这两种神经肽是否参与了 ​​androsta-4,16,-dien-3-one 和 estra-1,3,5 (10 ),16-tetraen-3-ol，两种人类化学信号，分别向目标接受者传达男性气质和女性气质。从 216 名异性恋和同性恋男性的 5 次实验中收集的心理物理数据（总共 1056 次测试）一致表明，这种男性气质和女性气质的化学感觉交流被一种称为阿托西班的催产素和加压素受体的竞争性拮抗剂阻断，该拮抗剂经鼻给药。另一方面，鼻内催产素，但不是加压素，以剂量依赖性、非单调且取决于接受者的社交能力的方式调节雄激素二烯酮和雌四烯酚的解码。综上所述，这些发现在人类的神经内分泌因素与性别特异性信息的潜意识化学感应交流之间建立了因果关系。