Posted on 02/10/2007 3:29:45 PM PST by NormsRevenge
A chemical in male sweat can boost mood, brain activity and sexual arousal in heterosexual women, according to a new study released just in time for Valentine's Day.
The study offers the first direct evidence that humans secrete a scent that can affect the physiology of the opposite sex, said researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Their findings were published this week in The Journal of Neuroscience.
"This is the first time anyone has demonstrated that a change in women's hormonal levels is induced by sniffing an identified compound of male sweat," said study leader Claire Wyart, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley. "There is much more going on than we think when we are smelling body odor."
The study conducted last year involved 48 undergraduate women who took 20 sniffs from a bottle containing androstadienone, a compound found in male perspiration and other bodily secretions.
The researchers measured the women's levels of the stress hormone cortisol and compared them to the women's responses to a control odor. Cortisol levels in the women rose within about 15 minutes of inhaling the androstadienone scent and remained elevated for more than an hour, UC Berkeley researchers found.
They also discovered that blood pressure, heart rate and breathing increased, mood improved and sexual arousal was boosted.
While the compound can make women feel more positive and sexually aroused, it's still unclear how it affects their behavior, Wyart said.
"Humans are more complex," she said. "You cannot expect them to have stereotypical responses like rodents."
androstadienone
The study conducted last year involved 48 undergraduate women who took 20 sniffs from a bottle containing androstadienone, a compound found in male perspiration and other bodily secretions.
Hmm. Instead of flowers or chocolate this V day I think I'll just bottle up some of my sweat. I know she'll be thrilled!
You cheap bastard, You!
Let us all know how it works out. ;-)
Why do you think I spend 10-hours a weeks at the gym?
And how did they measure that?
I think it was a blind study, they used a laser ruler.
I'll take a whiff too!
You cheap bastard, You!
Hey, I resemble that remark! Actually I'm going to pick up some Belgium chocolate since I'm in Brussels. Maybe I'll sweat a little when I give her the chocolates. ;^)
The moral of this story?
No pain, no gain.
Okay, so as a female I will address this matter. Ahem.
Well sure a guy's smell can be a turn-on. And I'll tell you how I know. First, a caveat, a guy's smell does NOT mean the stinky stuff...just his natural smell.
So how do I know this? Let that guy be gone, either permanently or temporarily from his lady's life and his smell is still in the bed!
I could smell the guy smells for weeks, even months, after a break-up...in one case the actual death of my spouse.
It always smells good too. It smells just like HIM. Yeah...a guy has his own smell and my nose could always identify it.
Humans are animals after all. I don't know why studies like this surprise anyone, frankly.
It's Flowers over chocolate here.. and a meal,, if I can get her to cook, that is. ;-)
Belgium has Good chocolate , for sure. Have a safe trip back,, Valentine's Day loometh!
Pick me up some sprouts while you're there.
Check Sigma catalog [of Sigma-Aldrich]. It might be there, and in concentrated form.
Humans are animals after all. I don't know why studies like this surprise anyone, frankly.
Yup, I agree, smell and such do get ingrained in our surroundings.
btw, our cat sleeps with us.. :-)
This is why I never wipe off the stairmaster when I'm done with it -- to get chicks, duh. :O)
Trade you some sprouts for some Elk steaks.
never wipe off the stairmaster when I'm done with it -- to get chicks
--
maybe you should consider renting it out to 'lonely' skinny fellars that don't sweat much.
Wasn't that the whole idea behind that '70s perfume Musk? How many of you bought bottles of that stuff? As if people didn't get sweaty enough at the disco. It was stinky.
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