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Updated: Jul 21, 2026

Combining Behavioral Endocrinology and Experimental Economics: Testosterone and Social Decision Making
Published on: March 3, 2011
Sniffing a human sex-steroid derived compound affects mood and autonomic arousal in a dose-dependent manner
1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, 3210 Tolman Hall MC 1650, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. bensafi@uclink.berkeley.edu
Abstract:
The effects of sniffing different concentrations of the human sex-steroid derived compound 4,16-androstadien-3-one (AND) on autonomic nervous system function and mood were measured in 60 subjects. The effects were sex-specific and concentration-dependent. Only high concentrations of AND (0.00625 M) increased positive mood (p < 0.03) and decreased negative mood (p < 0.05) in women compared to men, and had sympathetic-like effects in women (p < 0.003), and parasympathetic-like effects in men (p < 0.05). These findings further implicate AND in chemical communication between humans, but pose questions as to the path by which AND is transduced, whether through chemical sensing or transdermal diffusion.
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