Pheromone signals from dominant males spark new brain cells in their female partners and could help repair injured brains, suggests a new study by a University of Calgary neuroscientist.
Sam Weiss's findings, in the July issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience, provide evidence that pheromones — subtle chemical signatures that influence mating behaviour — can control stem cells in the brain.
The study also shows that in females, two brain areas that affect memory and smell work together in developing a pheromonal bond with the desired male.
"It turns out that those two regions are also regions where new neurons are added throughout the lifetime of all mammals, including humans," said Weiss, director of the university's Hotchkiss Brain Institute.
In his research, Weiss exposed female mice to the scent of the alpha male, and found newly generated neurons in the hippocampus and olfactory bulb — the seats of memory and smell, respectively.
