So, you think your emotional and physical responses are under your conscious control, that you only get mad or feel happy for good, logical reasons? Think again. You could be being led around by your own nose.
I’ve written before about how the smell of baking bread can transport you to your grandmother’s kitchen, or the scent of lilacs remind you of a warm summer evening on the front porch. There are direct links between the parts of the brain that process the sense of smell and the amygdala, clumps of brain cells which play an important role in memory.
Now two new studies indicate the sense of smell may be directly linked to other processes, too. Last Wednesday, Dr. Alan Hirsch of the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago reported that certain odors cause women to become more sexually aroused than others–a follow-up to a similar study he did with men a few years ago.
Dr. Hirsch found that three smells increased vaginal blood flow in his test subjects by about 13 percent. Nope, not roses, chocolate or wine: licorice, baby powder, and cucumber. Dr. Hirsch also discovered that cherries, charcoal-barbecued meat, and (perfume makers will hate this) the smell of men’s colognes actually decreased vaginal blood flow.
Dr. Hirsch’s previous study found the smell of pumpkin pie was the number-one turn-on scent for men; this worked for women, too, as did lavender, though less strongly than licorice, baby powder and cucumber.
Dr. Hirsch has been studying the body’s response to scent for years. Among other things, he’s found that a floral smell helps people learn faster, the smells of green apples or cucumbers make people think rooms are bigger than they are, and sniffing peppermint, banana or green apple scents can help people lose weight. Studies elsewhere have shown that the scent of vanilla or lavender calms patients during clinical tests, and that the smell of lemon oil makes people feel healthier. In some places (Japan, for instance) they’re already experimenting with piping pleasant scents into offices to enhance productivity.
Why do these smells have this effect? Theories range from the simple (good smells relax people) to the complex (certain odors may stimulate the production of neurotransmitters in the brain). In the case of sexual response, Dr. Hirsch believes there may be a direct link between the sense of smell and the septal nuclei, a section of the brain central to sexual arousal.
Another study released in the last couple of weeks provides the best evidence yet that we may even be influenced by scents we aren’t consciously aware of, scents we ourselves emit, called pheromones.
In other animals, pheromones are well-documented: by rubbing antennae, ants pass pheremones back and forth that establish their species and home colony. Mammals have pheromones that enable babies to recognize parents and vice-versa.
In 1971, biopsychologist Martha K. McClintock documented that women living in college dormitories often end up with synchronized menstrual periods. Now, McClintock and colleague Kathleen Stern have evidence that pheromones are the cause.
In a series of tests at the University of Chicaco, they mixed perspiration from nine women with rubbing alcohol, and dabbed the mixture under the noses of 20 recipients. The women said they smelled nothing but alcohol, but samples taken from donors in the pre-ovulation stage of their monthly cycle, when given to women two to four days before they ovulated, shortened the recipients’ monthly cycle by roughly two days. Samples taken from donors during ovulation delayed the cycles of recipients by about a day and a half.
The study indicates there are at least two human pheromones, McClintock says–the first solid evidence that human pheromones exist at all. However, their chemical make-up, and how they work, remains a mystery. (As for why they exist: McClintock speculates that they enhanced genetic diversity in prehistoric times by ensuring that a single man couldn’t impregnate all the women in a group.)
Even if we’re not sure how, it seems certain both scents we’re aware of and some we aren’t can actually alter the way we think and the way our body responds.
So if your love life is in the doldrums, guys, take the scientific approach: rub a little cucumber behind your ears, dust on a little baby powder, and buy your sweetheart a box of licorice instead of chocolate.
It can’t work any worse than whatever you’re doing now.
