The full text of the following recently published precis (excerpted
below) can be accessed at these sites:
http://cogsci.ecs.soton.ac.uk/psychttp://www.princeton.edu/~harnad/psyc.htmlgopher://gopher.princeton.edu:70/11/.libraries/.pujournals
Unlike the book, which was written for the general readership (as
indicated by the Table of Contents), the precis is designed to
elicit responses from the scientific readership.
psycoloquy.95.6.33.sex-odor.1.kohl Sunday 29 October 1995
ISSN 1055-0143 (22 paragraphs, 2 references, 266 lines)
PSYCOLOQUY is sponsored by the American Psychological Association
Copyright 1995 James Kohl
Precis of:
THE SCENT OF EROS: MYSTERIES OF ODOR IN HUMAN SEXUALITY
by James Vaughn Kohl and Robert T. Francoeur
New York: Continuum Publishing Company, 1995
14 chapters, 268 pages
James Kohl
2621 Seashore Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89128
Email: jkohl at vegas.infi.net
ABSTRACT: This Precis provides an overview of the book "The Scent
of Eros: Mysteries of Odor in Human Sexuality," which details for
a general audience a five-step biological pathway that allows the
social environment to influence the genetic nature of mammalian
behavior. This pathway is: gene-cell-tissue-organ-organ system.
Moreover, though there are many environmental influences on
genes, mammalian pheromones are the only known
social-environmental stimuli that appear to activate gene
expression in neurosecretory cells of tissue in the brain, an
organ that is essential to any organ system involved in behavior.
Human pheromones appear both to elicit a homologous
"neuroendocrine" response and to influence behavior. Thus, human
pheromones may fulfill the biological criteria required to link
at least one aspect of a sensory-based, nurturing, social
environment: olfaction, to the genetic nature of human behavior
through a five-step pathway common to all terrestrial mammals and
to many other vertebrates.
KEYWORDS: behavioral development, genetics, gonadotropin, human
sexuality, neuroanatomy, neuroendocrinology, odors, olfaction,
pheromones, releasing hormone
1. This book incorporates both non-human animal and human models
of reciprocity among odors, olfaction, neuroendocrinology, and
behavior. It details the likely influences both of human chemical
communication and of olfaction on genes in neurosecretory
neurons. These neurons are found in brain tissue responsible for
integrating, coordinating, and directing reproductive endocrine
function in organs that comprise the organ systems known to
influence mammalian reproductive sexual behavior and human
sexuality. Though this book is not written to meet any
requirements of a "hard scientific" approach to interdisciplinary
topics, it is fully referenced for the knowledgeable scientist
and for those interested either in further study or in support
for any conclusions. Also included are chapter notes, a glossary,
and an index.
Table of Contents: page
Foreword by William E. Hartman and Marilyn A. Fithian 11
Introduction: Raspberries and the Birth of This Book 15
Chapter 1 The Mystery of Odor 23
Chapter 2 On the Darkest Night 36
Chapter 3 A Ball of String 44
Chapter 4 The Anatomy of Smelling 56
Chapter 5 Love Apples and the Noble Perfume of Venery 67
Chapter 6 Friends, Strangers, and Lovers 77
Chapter 7 Deep in the Womb 88
Chapter 8 From Genes to Behavior and Back 100
Chapter 9 The Emotional Mind 117
Chapter 10 Natural Opiates, Infatuations, and Bonding 128
Chapter 11 Making Human Pheromones 141
Chapter 12 A Kiss Isn't Just a Kiss 151
Chapter 13 The Joy of Odor 163
Chapter 14 The Healing Power of Aromatic Oils 174
Notes and References 191
Glossary 239
Bibliography 249
Index 268
For additional information, access the sites listed above, or email your
request for the full text of the precis to jkohl at vegas.infi.net
