The olfactory chemistry of love. The olfactory chemistry of love © Thinkstock Ever more studies on the importance of pheromones to sex appeal are being published. So, whose side of the story to believe – deodorant marketeers or the scientists? When it doesn’t cause revulsion, someone else’s body odour can actually arouse sexual desire. Between instinctive attraction and conscious repulsion, here’s an overview of the multifaceted power of body smell.
The chemistry of sensual smell It took recent pheromone studies and findings on smell-induced sexual attraction to recognise the role of smell in human love life, which up until now was believed to be a uniquely animal feature. A long time ago, James Tyler Kent, one of the founding fathers of homeopathy, put together a list of the various types of body smell: sour, fetid, cheese-smelling, green maize, musky, mouldy, sickening, putrid, rancid, spicy, spoiled eggs, sweetish etc. Neurologist Alan Hirsch discovered a link between loss of smell and reduced sexual desire.
How the nose knows what to do - Technology & science - Science - LiveScience. Cats arch their backs at the smell of a rival, and mice scurry at the scent of a fox. But how does the nose know who or what is lurking? Now scientists have identified several special receptors in the noses of animals that react to specific scents given off by others. It's these receptors that signal to the brain whether the animal needs to flee, make itself large and scary, or perhaps even woo a mate. "Animals in the wild need to be able to recognize other animals, whether they are predators, potential mates or rivals," study researcher Catherine Dulac of Harvard University told LiveScience. Experimenting on mice, Dulac and her fellow researchers discovered that more of the animal's receptors seem to be dedicated to sniffing out predators than to detecting potential mates. Animal senses When a cat or mouse senses the chemical compounds secreted by other animals, it activates a special sensor in the nose called the vomeronasal organ.
Predator or potential mate?
Flirty Little Secret Perfume Oil with Pheromones - Booty Parlor Scientists get a taste and whiff of Manchester. 09 Sep 2011 Researchers from all over the world who study how the senses of smell and taste work have assembled in Manchester this week. The annual European Chemoreception Research Organisation (ECRO) conference is being hosted by The University of Manchester, and researchers are exchanging their latest findings in this fascinating area.
Among the talks being heard by the 200-strong audience are presentations on how the brain detects odours, how bitter tastes are detected, and a series of talks on pheromones – chemical messages – in insects, mice and humans. Debate is still raging over whether humans have pheromones, and some of the latest findings will be presented at the conference. Researchers will also be discussing cultural differences in taste and exploring whether men and women differ in their sense of smell – there is some evidence to suggest women are generally more sensitive to odours as well as being better at using odours as indicators of social context.
Ends Notes for editors. Scents and Sensibilities: How Your Nose Actually Works - Maria Popova - Life. Smell is often considered the most primal and most evocative of our senses. But how does it really work, and what exactly is its secret language? That's exactly what Scents and Sensibilities explores -- a fascinating 90-minute program from the World Science Festival, covering everything from pheromones to the smell of fear to how scent influences behavior to the incredible sentimental value of smells. The full program is now available online in its entirety, an absolute treat of fascination and self-knowledge. Smell is the only human sense that brings floating molecules from our environment into direct contact with our neurons. Particularly intriguing is this segment by neuroscientist and olfactory researcher Leslie Vosshall on how smell actually works and the complex chemical interplay of scents: Once you go beyond three [olfactory] components, people are completely stumped because the 400 receptors start interacting.
This post also appears on Brain Pickings.