A team of researchers from the University of Tokyo has proven how changes in female body smell during ovulation cause measurable reactions in men, who see the most attractive women and relax by perceiving those smells.
The scientists coordinated more than 20 women to ensure that their smells were collected at the key moments of their menstrual cycles. The conclusions of his study, in which they describe the reactions of men to these smells, are collected in the ICience magazine.
Their results indicate that certain olfactory compounds present in female body smell increase during ovulation and can influence how men feel.
When the men perceived these smells, along with samples of the smell of the armpits during menstruation, they perceived the faces of women who were shown, associated with those smells, as more feminine, attractive and pleasant, with respect to images shown without being accompanied by the smell.
Female aromas also seemed to reduce stress by perceiving them.
The team states that this does not prove the existence of pheromones in humans, but that the smell could subtly influence the way people interact and communicate.
Are pheromones?
Although they are a usual element of popular culture, especially in romantic films, the existence of pheromones in humans (chemical substances segregated by the body that could influence the behavior of other individuals of the same species has not yet been conclusively demonstrated. Yes, its presence in other mammals has been described.
However, researchers from the departments of applied biological chemistry and neurointelligence at the University of Tokyo have found a parallel process to that idea of pheromones, which could cause a change of similar behavior.
“We identified three components of the body’s body smell that increase during ovulatory periods, and when men smelled a mixture of those compounds and a axillary smell, they indicated that the images of women who accompanied those smells seemed more attractive and feminine,” says one of the authors, the professor of the University of Tokyo Kazushige Touhara.
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“We also discovered that these compounds relaxed the male subjects, and even suppressed the increase in the amount of amylase (a biomarker of stress) in their saliva,” adds the researcher in a statement from the University of Tokyo.
Previous studies had already described how female body odor changes throughout the menstrual cycle, and how changes in ovulatory phase can be perceived by men and considered as pleasant, but so far the specific nature of those smells had not been identified.
Touhara and his equipment used a chemical analysis technique called gase chromatography and mass spectrometry to isolate volatile compounds that vary along the phases of the menstrual cycle.
The 20 participating women had follow -up throughout a menstrual cycle and were interviewed on body temperature and other indicators to collect samples that would help understand the changes that were produced.
The tests with the male participants became blind, so that they had no clue about what they were smelling or with what purpose, to “reduce or eliminate psychological factors and expectations,” says Touhara.
“We cannot conclude that the compounds we have found and that increase during the ovulation period are human pheromones, but we have found compounds similar to them in the body,” he adds.
The team plans to explore other dimensions of this research, such as expanding the types of participating people to eliminate the possibility that a specific genetic feature influences the results, performing deeper chemical analysis and studying how ovulatory compounds could affect active areas of the brain related to emotions and perception.
With EFE information.
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