It is widely documented that pheromones effect the behavior of insects, fish and mammals. However, locating both the pheromone molecules themselves and the anatomy for detecting them has proven challenging. A recent study, however, has identified the cells responsible for detecting so-called 'alarm pheromones' in mice1.
The image above shows the implicated structures at various levels of detail. In the upper left, you can see a section of a mouse head, with a box around the GG: the Gruenberg ganglion, named for Hans Gruenberg, who first identified the set of cells in 1973.
There is every reason to assume that human beings are susceptible to the effects of pheromones, especially since the ganglion identified in the study mentioned above is present in humans. The prospect of having our behavior (or physiology in general) manipulated by artificial use of these molecules is both exciting and scary.
References:
1. Brechbühl J, Klaey M, Broillet M-C. Grueneberg ganglion cells mediate alarm pheromone detection in mice. Science 321: 1092-1095, 2008.
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