Resumen de Controversies on the human vomeronasal system.
Most vertebrates possess an accessory olfactory system parallel to the olfactory system. The most peripheral structure of the accessory (or v o m e ronasal) system is the vomeronasal org a n , located at the base of the nasal septum. Fro m the vomeronasal organ, vomeronasal sensory n e u rons project to the accessory olfactory bulb, which in turn projects to the vomero n a s a l - recipient structures in the basal telencephalon. The vomeronasal system detects phero m o n e s (substances generally emitted by conspecifics) or prey chemicals, which have been demonstrated to be critical for sexual behaviors and foraging, respectively. In humans, the existence and functionality of the vomeronasal system has been debated for the last three centuries. Recent anatomical, histological, behavioral and physiological studies have reached very diff e rent conclusions on this issue, leaving an old c o n t roversy unresolved. A review of the literat u re indicates that most of evidence for a functional human vomeronasal system has been p rovided by physiological studies conducted by a single re s e a rch group. Since curre n t anatomical evidence does not support the existence of neural substrates for these physiological effects, the functionality of the human v o m e ronasal organ awaits further independent confirmation .
