Patent Application: Pheromones, LH, Neurogenesis

USPTO application # 20110178009 – Pheromones and the luteinizing hormone for inducing proliferation of neural stem cells and neurogenesis The present invention provides a method of increasing neural stem cell numbers or neurogenesis by using a pheromone, a luteinizing hormone (LH) and/or a human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG). The method can be practiced in vivo to obtain more neural stem cells in situ, which can in turn produce more neurons…

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In my 1994 and 1995 presentations, I predicted the role of olfaction and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) in anti-aging medicine. This included the likely role of pheromones on a gene-cell-tissue-organ-organ system pathway common among mammals. In their patent application, Weiss et al., 2011 have taken this concept much further during the past sixteen years, as was somewhat predicted by the title of the two conferences: The 2nd and 3rd Annual Conference on Anti-aging Medicine & Biomedical Technology for the year 2010. (My presentation abstracts are available on request.)

The advances in neuroscience that led to their patent application are a credit to those who now continue to examine the molecular biology of olfaction, and to further detail its relevance to nearly every aspect of human behavior, which includes those that are associated with aging. But these advances seem to have been all but ignored by those who are involved in research on the age-associated development and decline of human sexual behavior

What is now most telling, however, is that these advances led to the proposal that pheromones and gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH)-modulated luteinizing hormone (LH) effect neurogenesis. Although the patent application (linked above) does not specifically mention neurogenesis in the hippocampus, this was predicted in publications from the same authors and in one by (Lau, Yau, & So, 2011). These authors make it clear that

  • “…pheromone exposure increases neurogenesis…(p. 28)” and that
  • “…the hippocampal neurogenesis is due to the increase of the luteinizing hormone…(p. 29)”

What is not quite clear is the likely role of GnRH and LH-directed steroidogenesis (with the respective roles of other hormones of course) and the development of sex differences in behavior associated with learning and memory, which I have detailed. Clearly, we have animal models that predict the respective roles of the hormones involved and the developmental staging of their involvement during sexual maturation (Kohl, 2007).

Nowhere do the researchers involved in providing details on hippocampal neurogenesis mention that they exclude the effects of non-olfactory/pheromonal stimuli on learning and memory during the development of behavior. They are simply detailing what is known about the molecular biology of behavior. Obviously, in sighted mammals that can hear, both visual input and auditory input can be expected to play important roles in behavioral development, learning and memory, and in aging. But given existing animal models, there is no reason to believe that any sensory input other than olfactory/pheromonal input has greater effects on the hormones that affect behavior.

We have reached a predicted point in time where some neuroscientists understand the role of pheromones and their effect on hormones that affect behavior. Why do so many people continue to feel the need to tell me that I am excluding consideration of non-olfactory/pheromonal input in my model?  I’m not excluding anything! I’m simply accurately representing the relationship between sensory input from the social environment, hormones, and behavior. An accurate representation does not require the involvement of visual and auditory input at any stage of mammalian life, any more than it does in age related neurogenesis associated with learning, memory, and behavior.

Kohl, J. V. (2007). The Mind’s Eyes: Human pheromones, neuroscience, and male sexual preferences. In M. R. Kauth (Ed.), Handbook of the Evolution of Human Sexuality (pp. 313-369). Binghamton: Haworth Press.

Lau, B. W.-M., Yau, S.-Y., & So, K.-F. (2011). Reproduction: A New Venue for Studying Function of Adult Neurogenesis? Cell Transplant, 20(1), 21-35.

 

About James V. Kohl 1308 Articles
James Vaughn Kohl was the first to accurately conceptualize human pheromones, and began presenting his findings to the scientific community in 1992. He continues to present to, and publish for, diverse scientific and lay audiences, while constantly monitoring the scientific presses for new information that is relevant to the development of his initial and ongoing conceptualization of human pheromones. Recently, Kohl integrated scientific evidence that pinpoints the evolved neurophysiological mechanism that links olfactory/pheromonal input to genes in hormone-secreting cells of tissue in a specific area of the brain that is primarily involved in the sensory integration of olfactory and visual input, and in the development of human sexual preferences. His award-winning 2007 article/book chapter on multisensory integration: The Mind’s Eyes: Human pheromones, neuroscience, and male sexual preferences followed an award winning 2001 publication: Human pheromones: integrating neuroendocrinology and ethology, which was coauthored by disinguished researchers from Vienna. Rarely do researchers win awards in multiple disciplines, but Kohl’s 2001 award was for neuroscience, and his 2007 “Reiss Theory” award was for social science. Kohl has worked as a medical laboratory scientist since 1974, and he has devoted more than twenty-five years to researching the relationship between the sense of smell and the development of human sexual preferences. Unlike many researchers who work with non-human subjects, medical laboratory scientists use the latest technology from many scientific disciplines to perform a variety of specialized diagnostic medical testing on people. James V. Kohl is certified with: * American Society for Clinical Pathology * American Medical Technologists James V. Kohl is a member of: * Society for Neuroscience * Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology * Association for Chemoreception Sciences * Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality * International Society for Human Ethology * American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science * Mensa, the international high IQ society