Human pheromones: Book precis

[Jim Kohl]

     The full text of the following recently published precis (excerpted 
below) can be accessed at these sites:

     http://cogsci.ecs.soton.ac.uk/psyc
     http://www.princeton.edu/~harnad/psyc.html
     gopher://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