Lack of sexual experience does not reduce the responses of LH, estrus or fertility in anestrous goats exposed to sexually active males
"These results strongly suggest that the sexual physiological state of males is critical to obtain a high response of females exposed to males, overcoming the lack of sexual experience. It seems that the high sexual behavior displayed by males and the high olfactory cues provided (Delgadilo et al., 2002; Rivas-Muñoz et al., 2007; Vielma et al., 2009), enhanced female’s response even in sexually inexperienced ones."

In my model: An evolved GnRH-driven neurophysiological mechanism that is driven by pheromones during development primes and subsequently drives the LH response, which is associated with behavior. That explanation seems more likely than an automagical response to visual input from the males. Besides, there is no model for how women develop their differences in preferences for the visually appealing physical features of men -- unless visual appeal is directly associated with olfactory/pheromonal input.

That explains how we could predict changes in women's flirtatious behavior after exposure to a mixture of human pheromones. So, we ignored the differences between women and other female animals and focused on their biologically based similarities.

Androstenol, for example, is known to alter levels of LH in women. Thus, all we needed was a species specific component of the mixture that signaled masculinity to women in the same way masculinity was signaled by the male goats.

We're rather certain that this is what androsterone does, and it explains what we observed: increased flirtatious behavior. I was still somewhat surprised that the women reported they were more attracted to the man when he was wearing the androsterone/androstenol mix. But only because I didn't think they would notice any increased attraction.

Typically, the behavioral affect is not perceived, so it makes sense that women were not aware of any increased attraction due to the pheromones. Instead, they merely reported on a questionnaire that they were more attracted to the man when he was wearing the mixture (i.e., an unconscious affect).

Soo maybe I'll be testing The Mind's Eyes out at my next visit to the petting zoo! The county fair is coming up soon, I'd die of hysterical laughter if all the goats in the petting zoo area were coming at me butt-up!
Seriously, can the pheromones we are wearing get responses from animals? That would be a hoot! And maybe a bit dangerous if the animal were confused and enraged by being aroused by a human.... I definitely wouldn't want to go into a chimpanzee or gorilla habitat wearing pheromones and have something awful happen..

And no I'm not suggesting in any way shape or form anything about non-human perversion, ya pervs...

(08-05-2011 12:26 AM)2Soon2Care Wrote:  Soo maybe I'll be testing The Mind's Eyes out at my next visit to the petting zoo!

I trust that you survived, and will now address cross species reactions to pheromones: From goats to men who stare at goats in attempts to determine the cause of their sexual behavior.

Menstruating women supposedly get bit more by rats. A stag 'raped' a menstruating woman who was changing her tampon at an outdoor commode (as reported in Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality). Of course, adding a scent of dominance to your natural scent signature might also keep a vicious animal temporarily at bay, but who's willing to experiment with vicious animals?

Goats are comparatively more docile.

Estrous female goats use testosterone-dependent cues to assess mates This article tells us the testosterone-dependent assessment cues are associated with scent marking or courtship behavior. Further investigation by the same researchers looked only at testosterone-dependent visual cues associated with courtship behavior. Their results are not surprising: Female goats use courtship display as an honest indicator of male quality. They found that courtship display was important. They did not find any testosterone-dependent cues associated with scent because they didn’t bother to look.

The design of the second study eliminates testosterone-dependent cues associated with scent marking, and reports on only one of the two important variables initially reported. Thus, the second study will almost undoubtedly arrive at a false conclusion about what is responsible for mate assessment. Obviously, it’s the scent cues, not the visual cues seen by the female during courtship behavior.

Telling us that the visual cues are responsible for mate assessment is like telling us that if we don't know precisely which chemical of many possible chemicals is involved in establishing an apple's odor appeal, the apple appeals to us because it looks good. But why does it look good? And do good-looking apples “behave” differently so that we will choose them to eat? Yes, I’m being sarcastic, and using sarcasm to make a point. These authors seem to forget about any further investigation into the biological (e.g., chemical) basis for the either the apple’s, or the male goat’s appeal. Should we also forget that someone must have once been compelled to eat a non-poisonous apple, and find it appealing? How would the apple’s visual appeal compel anyone to eat an apple? How would an animal’s visual appeal compel another animal to see it as a potential mate? Suddenly, due to study design, the male’s appeal is due to visually perceived courtship behavior.

Bottom line: These authors know that male morphology is not used by female goats for mate choice, and cite their own work in this regard. They also cite works that show female mammals are able to distinguish between and show preference for particular males using chemical cues alone. Because pheromone activity in goats is testosterone dependent, and females are able to use chemical cues alone to distinguish among high and low quality males, the courtship cues provided by males are of no concern with regard to the proximate mechanisms involved in female assessment. As it is in all species that sexually reproduce, it’s the testosterone-dependent pheromones that are responsible for the male’s appeal!

That's what we showed in our study of women exposed to a mixture of human pheromones. Human pheromones, epigenetics, physiology, and the development of animal behavior. But consider what might happen if Larry Katz, or someone like him (e.g., who thinks that visual cues are most responsible for a female animal's behavior), reviewed our journal submission to Hormones and Behavior.

I did visit a zoo over the weekend on a family trip, and they had Australian goats in a low fenced area so they could be fed - I gave 4 sprays from the bottle of The Mind's Eyes onto the top of my forearms and rubbed it around, but the goats didn't seem overly frisky that I was able to tell - they are used to being fed or petted by anyone walking by, so I wasn't really sure what kind of reaction to look for from the pheromones. If I go to a petting zoo where they are walking around me I may repeat the experiment with a higher dosage. There were male and female goats in the pen, so at a petting zoo it would be interesting to see if the female reacted differently to me than other humans. The fall county fair should be coming up soon, might try there.