Reutilizing Sweat Samples: The robustness of information transfer through fear chemosignals
Oral presentation
A considerable volume of research has been showing that human sweat (chemosignals) conveys information about the emotional state of its donor, triggering in receivers congruent psychophysiological and behavioral reactions. For instance, exposure to sweat produced in fear-inducing contexts results in increased activity of the medial frontalis and corrugator supercilii (facial electromyography; fEMG) – two facial muscles involved in fear facial expressions. Nevertheless, despite the increased interest in emotional chemosignals, little is known about the properties of sweat samples. In this study, our goal was to examine whether sweat samples used a second time would produce similar results to their first application. Specifically, we assessed whether sweat samples collected from Portuguese males in fear (vs. neutral) inducing contexts produce similar fEMG activations (i.e., in the medial frontalis and corrugator supercilii) in female receivers across two independent applications (the first with Dutch and the second, a year later, with Portuguese receivers). Our findings showed that exposure to fear (vs. neutral) chemosignals resulted in higher activations of both muscles compared to neutral odors, revealing a similar data pattern across both applications. These results underline the feasibility of re-using emotional (fear) sweat samples (with its obvious monetary and time benefits). Additionally, this similar data pattern provides some insights regarding the properties of the fear-related information present in the samples: Samples reused a year later (conserved at -80ºC) produced a similar data pattern to their first application indicating that the information transfer through (fear) chemosignals appears to be robust and may rely on low volatile molecules.