Perfume with pheromones? Doubtful…

The existence of human pheromones has once again been called into question

Anna Stavina, XX2 century, based on the materials of Science: Do human pheromones actually exist?

You may have seen an advertisement promising a successful date to anyone who puts a little "human pheromones" on the skin. However, scientists have been arguing for quite a long time about whether the human body synthesizes compounds that affect the behavior of other people in such a way that they can be called pheromones. A new study has demonstrated that two substances that – if you believe the statements of their defenders – should increase attractiveness, in fact, do not work in this way.

The results of the work were published in the Royal Society Open Science (Hare et al., Putative sex-specific human pheromones do not affect gender perception, attractiveness ratings or unfaithfulness judgments of opposite sex faces).

The researchers focused on the study of two substances considered "human pheromones". One of them, androstadienone, can be found in semen and male sweat, the other, estratetraenol, in female urine.

To evaluate the effectiveness of hypothetical pheromones, scientists conducted two experiments. For the first of them, a group of volunteers (24 heterosexual men and 22 heterosexual women took part in the experiment) had to look at images of gender-neutral faces obtained by combining photos of men and women for two days in a row.

"Gender neutral" persons (figure from the article by Hare et al.) – VM.

One day, female subjects were given androstadienone to inhale, and male volunteers were given estratetraenol. On the second day, the participants received cotton wool soaked with a substance that could not affect sexuality and attractiveness and was used as a control. The researchers asked participants to identify gender-neutral faces as male or as female. Scientists have suggested that if the substances used in the experiment were really pheromones, then women under the influence of androstadienone would perceive such faces as male, and men – under the influence of estratetraenol – as female. But that didn't happen.

In the second experiment, volunteers (this time the group included 43 heterosexual men and 51 heterosexual women) were asked to evaluate the sexual attractiveness and hypothetical propensity for infidelity of representatives of the opposite sex, whose faces were depicted in the photographs. But this time, the results of exposure to androstadienone or estratetraenol could not be identified. The researchers reported that they did not find any effect from the use of these steroids and suggested to stop labeling androstadienone and estratetraenol as "so-called human pheromones".

"I am convinced that androstadienone and estratetraenol are not worth chasing after," says lead study author Leigh Simmons, an evolutionary biologist at The University of Western Australia.

Simmons belongs to a group of scientists who believe that human pheromones really exist, but none of these substances have yet been discovered. The substances studied in the course of the new study are considered by the head of the work to be an unsuccessful sample that has become widespread as a result of the "file drawer problem" – a situation where negative experimental results remain "in the file cabinet" of laboratories and do not receive publicity.

She expressed her opinion about the new study Martha McClintock, a behavioral neuroscientist at The University of Chicago, played an important role in increasing the popularity of androstadienone and estratetraenol as pheromones. She believes that Simmons' work refutes only an extremely simplified approach to these substances, suggesting that they have an almost mythical ability to attract partners. McClintock claims that the tested compounds can influence people's behavior – but this influence is much more subtle and complex than is commonly believed. In a new study by McClintock, in particular, it was shown that inhaling androstadienone, for example, from another person's sweat, can have an effect on emotions. "There is no doubt that this compound, even in small amounts, affects brain function," says the researcher.

Tristram Wyatt, a pheromone researcher at the University of Oxford, finds the new work quite convincing and hopes that in the future researchers will change the approach to the study of pheromones. "Works focused on sexuality and attractiveness touch on a complex area, since human sexual behavior is still not fully understood," explains Vyatt. "Instead, scientists should study young children. They don't have personal associations with smells yet. Nevertheless, infants react to pheromone–like compounds secreted by glands on the areola of the nipple - these substances make babies stick out their tongue and suck on the breast."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  10.03.2017