scholarly journals Reproducible research into human semiochemical cues and pheromones: learning from psychology’s renaissance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristram D Wyatt
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Publication Bias ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Chemical Signals ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Reproducible Research ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Human Pheromones ◽  
Crisis In Psychology

As with other mammals, smell in the form of semiochemicals is likely to influence the behaviour of humans, as olfactory cues to emotions, health, and mate choice. A subset of semiochemicals, pheromones, chemical signals within a species, have been identified in many mammal species. As mammals, we may have pheromones too. Sadly, the story of molecules claimed to be ‘putative human pheromones’ is a classic example of bad science carried out by good scientists. Much of human semiochemicals research including work on ‘human pheromones’ and olfactory cues comes within the field of psychology. Thus, the research is highly likely to be affected by the ‘reproducibility crisis’ in psychology and other life sciences. Psychology researchers have responded with proposals to enable better, more reliable science, with an emphasis on enhancing reproducibility. A key change is the adoption of study pre-registration which will also reduce publication bias. Human semiochemicals research would benefit from adopting these proposals.

scholarly journals Reproducible research into human semiochemical cues and pheromones: learning from psychology’s renaissance

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristram D Wyatt
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Publication Bias ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Chemical Signals ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Reproducible Research ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Human Pheromones ◽  
Crisis In Psychology

As with other mammals, smell in the form of semiochemicals is likely to influence the behaviour of humans, as olfactory cues to emotions, health, and mate choice. A subset of semiochemicals, pheromones, chemical signals within a species, have been identified in many mammal species. As mammals, we may have pheromones too. Sadly, the story of molecules claimed to be ‘putative human pheromones’ is a classic example of bad science carried out by good scientists. Much of human semiochemicals research including work on ‘human pheromones’ and olfactory cues comes within the field of psychology. Thus, the research is highly likely to be affected by the ‘reproducibility crisis’ in psychology and other life sciences. Psychology researchers have responded with proposals to enable better, more reliable science, with an emphasis on enhancing reproducibility. A key change is the adoption of study pre-registration which will also reduce publication bias. Human semiochemicals research would benefit from adopting these proposals.

scholarly journals Reproducible research into human chemical communication by cues and pheromones: learning from psychology's renaissance

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1800) ◽  
pp. 20190262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristram D. Wyatt
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Communication ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
False Positives ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Reproducible Research ◽  
Olfactory Communication ◽  
Biomedical Sciences ◽  
Human Pheromones ◽  
Small Sample Sizes

Despite the lack of evidence that the ‘putative human pheromones' androstadienone and estratetraenol ever were pheromones, almost 60 studies have claimed ‘significant' results. These are quite possibly false positives and can be best seen as potential examples of the ‘reproducibility crisis', sadly common in the rest of the life and biomedical sciences, which has many instances of whole fields based on false positives. Experiments on the effects of olfactory cues on human behaviour are also at risk of false positives because they look for subtle effects but use small sample sizes. Research on human chemical communication, much of it falling within psychology, would benefit from vigorously adopting the proposals made by psychologists to enable better, more reliable science, with an emphasis on enhancing reproducibility. A key change is the adoption of study pre-registration and/or Registered Reports which will also reduce publication bias. As we are mammals, and chemical communication is important to other mammals, it is likely that chemical cues are important in our behaviour and that humans may have pheromones, but new approaches will be needed to reliably demonstrate them. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Olfactory communication in humans’.

scholarly journals Preprints: a tool and a vehicle towards greater reproducibility in the life sciences

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iratxe Puebla
Keyword(s):  
Publication Bias ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Reproducible Research ◽  
Journal Publication ◽  
Publication Process ◽  
Science Practices

We have seen a number of initiatives arise in recent years aiming to tackle concerns around the reproducibility of published findings. Researchers in the life sciences now have a number of tools at their disposal to boost the reproducibility of their science and preprints have emerged as an instrumental element within this toolkit. Preprints broaden the when, by whom and how of the review and feedback on research compared to the journal publication process, help address publication bias, and can play an important role as a vehicle towards open science practices. Preprints hold further untapped potential to close the gap between discovery and dissemination, and to accelerate the path to a more reproducible research ecosystem.

The information content of odour, colour and tactile cues in the mate choice of minnows

Behaviour ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 148 (8) ◽  
pp. 909-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannele Valkama ◽  
Hannu Huuskonen ◽  
Jouni Taskinen ◽  
Yi-Te Lai ◽  
Jukka Kekäläinen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Information Content ◽  
Condition Factor ◽  
Lower Number ◽  
Visual Signals ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Male Quality ◽  
Phoxinus Phoxinus ◽  
Tactile Cues

AbstractSexual displays often involve many different signal components, which may give information about the same or different mate qualities. We studied the information content of different signals in male minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus) and tested whether females are able to discriminate between males when only olfactory cues are present. We found that females preferred the odour of males with a more saturated (i.e., redder) belly, but only when the females had been in physical contact with the males before the experiments. Instead, when unfamiliar males were used, females did not discriminate between male odours and also the overall swimming activity (mate choice intensity) of the females was significantly lower. More ornamented males had lower number of Philometra ovata parasites (indicated by belly saturation) and Neoechinorhynchus rutili parasites (indicated by belly hue) than their less ornamented counterparts. We did not find experimental evidence for female odour preference being linked to belly hue and breeding tubercle number, but in the nature these traits were associated with the condition factor of the males. Taken together, our results suggest that belly colouration and breeding tubercles give honest information on several aspects of male quality. In addition females may learn the association between male colouration and their olfactory signals and utilize this information when visual signals are not present.

scholarly journals Interpreting and integrating big data in the life sciences

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serghei Mangul
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Life Science ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Reproducible Research ◽  
Computational Techniques ◽  
Omics Data ◽  
Omics Technologies ◽  
Domains Of Life ◽  
The Many ◽  
Review Current

Recent advances in omics technologies have led to the broad applicability of computational techniques across various domains of life science and medical research. These technologies provide an unprecedented opportunity to collect omics data from hundreds of thousands of individuals and to study gene-disease association without the aid of prior assumptions about the trait biology. Despite the many advantages of modern omics technologies, interpretations of big data produced by such technologies require advanced computational algorithms. Below I outline key challenges that biomedical researches are facing when interpreting and integrating big omics data. I discuss the reproducibility aspect of big data analysis in the life sciences and review current practices in reproducible research. Finally, I explain the skills which biomedical researchers need to acquire in order to independently analyze big omics data.

Do olfactory cues from males with different avpr1a genotypes affect female mate choice in prairie voles, Microtus ochrogaster?

2020 ◽  
Vol 180 ◽  
pp. 104228
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Hayes-Puttfarcken ◽  
Christine Kemmerly ◽  
Brian Keane ◽  
Nancy G. Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Female Mate Choice ◽  
Microtus Ochrogaster ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Prairie Voles ◽  
Female Mate

Olfactory Cues Used by Female Gromphadorhina portentosa (Dictyoptera: Blaberidae) During Mate Choice

1985 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura B. Leibensperger ◽  
James F. A. Traniello ◽  
Jean M. Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Gromphadorhina Portentosa

scholarly journals Smelling wrong: hormonal contraception in lemurs alters critical female odour cues

2010 ◽  
Vol 278 (1702) ◽  
pp. 122-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Chase Crawford ◽  
Marylène Boulet ◽  
Christine M. Drea
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Kin Recognition ◽  
Hormonal Contraception ◽  
Reproductive Potential ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Genetic Constitution ◽  
Normal Female ◽  
Intraspecific Interactions ◽  
Volatile Chemicals ◽  
Female Reproductive Status

Animals, including humans, use olfaction to assess potential social and sexual partners. Although hormones modulate olfactory cues, we know little about whether contraception affects semiochemical signals and, ultimately, mate choice. We examined the effects of a common contraceptive, medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), on the olfactory cues of female ring-tailed lemurs ( Lemur catta ), and the behavioural response these cues generated in male conspecifics. The genital odorants of contracepted females were dramatically altered, falling well outside the range of normal female variation: MPA decreased the richness and modified the relative abundances of volatile chemicals expressed in labial secretions. Comparisons between treatment groups revealed several indicator compounds that could reliably signal female reproductive status to conspecifics. MPA also changed a female's individual chemical ‘signature’, while minimizing her chemical distinctiveness relative to other contracepted females. Most remarkably, MPA degraded the chemical patterns that encode honest information about genetic constitution, including individual diversity (heterozygosity) and pairwise relatedness to conspecifics. Lastly, males preferentially investigated the odorants of intact over contracepted females, clearly distinguishing those with immediate reproductive potential. By altering the olfactory cues that signal fertility, individuality, genetic quality and relatedness, contraceptives may disrupt intraspecific interactions in primates, including those relevant to kin recognition and mate choice.

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