Also
published last month:
Gottfried, J. A. (2007). What can an orbitofrontal cortex-endowed animal do with
smells? Ann N Y Acad Sci., 1121, 102-120.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum
"Findings such as these indicate that the pairing of a sensory stimulus (the
conditioned stimulus, or CS+) with an emotionally charged event (the unconditioned stimulus, or UCS) is sufficient
to modulate neural representations of the original sensory input. In turn these learning-dependent changes in
sensory coding may underlie subsequent modifications in sensory perception."
As I indicated in my last
published article/book chapter, what we see in the presence of pheromones can subsequently elicit the same response
as the pheromones elicited--even when the pheromones are no longer part of the picture. It's difficult for people
to realize that their response to what they see is conditioned by their sense of smell--especially when they don't
"smell" the pheromones.
Simply put, I could take the "right" pheromones and make someone respond to another
person more positively, based on their conditioned response to the natural scent signature of other people they have
encountered during the development of their sexual preferences.
James V. Kohl
The Scent of Eros
