Pheromones may control human interactions

  Illustration by GRACE HUANG/Daily Bruin

By Dharshani Dharmawardena

and Hemesh Patel
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

According to some scientists, the often frustrating feelings we
associate with sex, attraction and love may have more than
emotional beginnings: they could result from pheromones.

Pheromones are chemicals emitted from a certain species which
then affect the behavior of a different animal of the same
species.

Though people may be unable to explain the reasons why they are
attracted to a specific person, that doesn’t mean that
pheromones are producing the emotional swings of love.

“I think it’s just a theory ““ but I
don’t know of any experimental data that proves it’s
true,” said John Colicelli, a professor in the biochemistry
department.

In animals, the vomeronasal organ, which is a receptor organ in
the nose, transmits information about pheromone concentration to
the brain, according to Benjamin Redelings, a second-year graduate
student in biomathematics who has done research on pheromones.

It often is the case that pheromones help facilitate the mating
process in animals.

“When female pigs smell a particular chemical in male
pigs’ breath, they assume a semi-mating position,”
Redelings said.

The VNO seems to play a vital role in animal sexual behavior.
According to Redelings, previous studies have shown that rats
lacking a VNO did not have sexual intercourse with other rats.

But actions spurred by pheromone secretion is not exclusive to
sexual behavior.

“For moths, pheromones are a way for finding each
other,” Redelings said. “It’s more of a location
mechanism in insects.”

Professor Richard Zimmer of the department of organismic
biology, ecology and evolution dispelled the myth that pheromones
are involved only in sexual behavior and attraction.

He emphasized their importance in carrying out ordinary, daily
tasks that preserve the survival of organisms.

“To define it as an attractant is wrong ““ there are
mating pheromones, courtship pheromones and alarm
pheromones,” he said. “Pheromones are even involved
when gametes meet eggs.”

For example, ants secrete chemicals when they experience stress,
triggering a sort of alarm system warning others of possible
dangers, Redelings said.

Until recently, scientists associated the phenomena of pheromone
secretion with insects, but the findings with the rats and pigs
support the idea that the chemicals exist within the mammal
community.

Despite this evidence in animals, however, researchers are still
debating whether the substances exist in humans.

“I think they probably do exist, but our conscious
intellect has developed to such an extent that we can override some
signals,” Colicelli said. “They may have a minor
subconscious effect on our behavior.”

The question whether pheromones exist in humans is debatable,
considering human experimentation is not so simple.

According to Colicelli, unlike in rodents, it is hard to remain
objective with human subjects and impossible to control genetic
background.

“Pigs, mice, moths ““ their behavior is largely
controlled by pheromones. Humans obviously don’t behave in
that way,” Redelings said. “I suspect pheromones do
exist in humans, but it’s too early to tell.”

Colicelli said the strongest evidence supporting human
pheromones stems from an experiment done a few years ago where
researchers succeeding in synchronizing the menstrual cycles of a
group of women.

Each woman smelled the sweat taken from the underarms of one of
the subjects. Eventually, each of the women began to menstruate
following the cycle of the chosen subject.

In addition, new research has also revealed that men could guess
the relative fertility of women, such as being able to tell how
many days have passed since their menstruation had begun.

“A recent paper in the proceedings of the Royal Society in
London published a paper giving evidence that pheromones exist in
humans,” Zimmer said. “Men can detect the relative
menstrual state of a woman, the stage of menstruation a woman is
in.”

According to Redelings, in humans, a cluster of nerve cells near
the nostrils connect to a portion of the brain called the
hypothalamus.

Theoretically, pheromones then trigger an electrical surge from
this cluster to the brain, transferring a specific message.

Though scientists have not proven the presence of pheromones in
humans, some fragrance manufacturers are taking full advantage of
the myth that such chemicals’ hold possibilities for inciting
romantic relationships.

“Jovan is a company that makes the perfume Musk2,”
Redelings said. “It has a pig sex pheromone and they claim
it’s used as an attractant.”

But because the substance originates in pigs and is
species-specific, it would not work for humans, he said.

“It’s unfair to exploit a programmed or instinctual
response by a visual chemical ““ it’s unethical,”
Zimmer said.

Whether these pheromones exist in humans or not, scientists like
Zimmer emphasize the importance of chemicals and other microscopic
compounds and organisms that guide not only daily bodily
mechanisms, but inter-organismic activity.

“Chemicals are used to communicate between one organism
and another ““ we just don’t see it,” he said.
“It’s an invisible world that controls everything
visible.”

HOW PHEROMONES WORK IN HUMANS SOURCE: Benjamin
Redelings Original graphic by VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin Web
adaptation by LYNN SHIAU