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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 18, 2026

Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements

Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements

Published on: August 28, 2017

Chemosignals communicate human emotions.

Jasper H B de Groot¹, Monique A M Smeets, Annemarie Kaldewaij

¹Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.

Psychological Science

|September 29, 2012

Summary

Humans can communicate emotions through chemical signals. Fear signals elicit fearful expressions and sensory acquisition, while disgust signals evoke disgusted expressions and sensory rejection, impacting non-conscious communication.

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 18, 2026

Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements

Electroencephalographic, Heart Rate, and Galvanic Skin Response Assessment for an Advertising Perception Study: Application to Antismoking Public Service Announcements

Published on: August 28, 2017

Area of Science:

Psychology
Neuroscience
Social Biology

Background:

Human emotional communication is complex, involving various sensory modalities.
The role of chemical signals (chemosignals) in human social interaction is under-explored.
Embodied social communication theory posits that sender's physiological states are transmitted via chemical signals.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether humans can communicate distinct emotional states through chemosignals.
To test the hypothesis that sender's emotional processes are transmitted to receivers via produced chemicals.
To examine the impact of fear and disgust chemosignals on receiver's facial reactions, sensory regulation, and visual search.

Main Methods:

A double-blind experimental design was employed.
Participants were exposed to chemosignals associated with specific emotions (fear, disgust).
Facial reactions, sensory-regulation processes (sniff magnitude, eye scanning), and visual search were measured.

Main Results:

Fear chemosignals induced fearful facial expressions, increased sniff magnitude, and enhanced eye scanning (sensory acquisition).
Disgust chemosignals elicited disgusted facial expressions, decreased sniff magnitude, reduced target-detection sensitivity, and decreased eye scanning (sensory rejection).
These effects occurred outside of conscious awareness, highlighting non-conscious communication channels.

Conclusions:

Chemical signals play a significant role in non-conscious emotional communication between humans.
Chemosignals facilitate embodied social communication by transmitting emotional states.
The findings underscore the importance of studying chemical signaling in social interactions and emotional regulation.