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Immunoactivation Affects Perceived Body Odor and Facial but Not Vocal Attractiveness
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SYSNO ASEP 0580059 Document Type J - Journal Article R&D Document Type Journal Article Subsidiary J Článek ve WOS Title Immunoactivation Affects Perceived Body Odor and Facial but Not Vocal Attractiveness Author(s) Schwambergová, D. (CZ)
Pátková, Z. (CZ)
Fialová, J. T. (CZ)
Třebický, V. (CZ)
Stella, David (UEK-B) RID, SAI, ORCID
Havlíček, J. (CZ)Article number 14747049231218010 Source Title Evolutionary Psychology
Roč. 21, č. 4 (2023)Number of pages 16 s. Language eng - English Country US - United States Keywords immune-system ; mate choice ; perception ; quality ; voices ; health ; scent ; birds ; cue ; perception ; health status ; olfaction ; face ; voice Subject RIV AN - Psychology OECD category Public and environmental health Method of publishing Open access Institutional support UEK-B - RVO:86652079 UT WOS 001125862800001 EID SCOPUS 85179649619 DOI 10.1177/14747049231218010 Annotation Several previous studies have shown that in mammals, the health status of conspecifics can be assessed based on perceptual cues. Olfactory, visual, or acoustic cues may lead to avoidant behavior, thus reducing the risk of contagion by close contact with infected individuals. We tested whether immune system activation after immunization leads to perceptible changes in body odor and facial and vocal attractiveness in humans. We have experimentally activated the immune system of male participants using vaccination against hepatitis A/B and meningococcus. Their body odor, facial photographs, and vocal recordings were collected before and 14 days after vaccination. Subsequently, the body odor samples, facial photographs, and vocal recordings were assessed by female raters for their attractiveness and healthiness. We have also measured skin coloration (from facial photographs and in vivo using a spectrophotometer), vocal parameters, and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels as a marker of inflammation. We found an increase in perceived body odor attractiveness, a decrease in facial attractiveness and healthiness, and no change in vocal attractiveness 14 days after vaccination compared to the prevaccination condition. Moreover, there was no change in facial coloration or vocal parameters between the prevaccination and postvaccination conditions. Prevaccination CRP levels were negatively associated with body odor and facial attractiveness and positively associated with body odor intensity. Overall, our results suggest that perceived body odor as well as facial but not vocal attractiveness may provide cues to activation of the immune response and that each modality may carry specific information about the individual's condition. Workplace Global Change Research Institute Contact Nikola Šviková, svikova.n@czechglobe.cz, Tel.: 511 192 268 Year of Publishing 2024 Electronic address https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14747049231218010
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