UpBeat Living: Better Loving Through Chemistry |
What attracts mates? We often joke about “chemistry”.
I know a woman chemist (seriously) who met her chemical engineer husband at an isolated top-secret lab. They were the only two single people. Would they have paired off together if they had had more choices of mates? The woman has said she believes that if you put a man and a woman on an island alone long enough, chemistry will develop for mating. Half a century after this chemist made her conclusions, science has proven much of what she believed. There is literally a lot of biology and chemistry in what people often believe is aesthetic and emotional attraction.
The subject of pheromones caught my attention last year while I was perusing Science News. Certain reptiles would initiate mating by the male tapping his chin on the female’s head. Sounds as romantic as some of your recent dates? Well, it works for the female reptile, who quickly pivots so the male can mount her. The pheromones in this type of reptile are generated by a gland under the male’s chin. When pheromones—er—borrowed from the male are dabbed on the female’s head, she pivots fast and waits to be mounted. With more pheromones dabbed, she pivots faster. It isn’t the male’s hair, his earring, or even his personality that has riveted the female’s interest. It is biology. The study’s authors commented that while hundreds of pheromones had been identified in insects, science was creeping toward identification of a dozen pheromones in the mammal world. So what about research on pheromones and other attractants in humans?
I found that there are a number of studies of scent/pheromones and attraction, and there are even a few books. Odors affect our responses, as do subliminal scents, also known as sex attractants and pheromones. While we cannot consciously smell pheromones, they are perceived much like smells, through a sensory organ in the nose called the vomeronasal organ. Messages are then relayed to the hypothalamus (section of the brain). The classic pheromonal study was reported in 1971; McClintock had studied groups of women living together, and their menstrual cycles had become synchronized. Manipulation of pheromones resulted in specific changes to the length and timing of the cycles: more pheromones, shorter cycles, more fertility when the women were around males!
J.V. Kohl and R. T. Francoeur are co-authors of The Scent of Eros: Mysteries of Odor in Human Sexuality. They argue that chemical communication, whether sensible as odor or not, is well-known and vital in the rest of the animal kingdom. Pheromonal GnRH, Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone, is generated by certain neurons (nerve cells). Kohl and Francoeur say GnRH affects your response to odors, and your mood, memory, motivation, choices of actions, cognition, and responses to other stimuli. Another name for GnRH is LHRH. Michelle Kodis is the first author of Love Scents: How Your Natural Pheromones Influence Your Relationships, Your Moods, and Who You Love. She argues that, because pheromonal messages are processed in the hypothalamus, they bypass the “thinking brain” and go straight to our primitive, instinctive, and unplanned reactions. Kodis further argues that this phenomenon constitutes the much-discussed “Sixth Sense”, that instant reaction of liking or disliking someone, feeling safe or unsafe, being attracted or repelled.
In Sex Signals: The Biology of Love, author Timothy Perper relates flirtation and courtship behavior with biology. A biologist, Dr. Perper analyzes the behavior of 500 couples in bars. He concludes that both female and male behavior make perfect sense—when you look at them right. He explains how behaviors are born of biology, and how we can interpret the opposite sex’s signals, even responding effectively with our own messages. So what’s after smells and flirtation and courtship? Well, um, it involves a wonderful compound called oxytocin. Men and women produce it in approximately equal amounts, but it has a greater effect on women. Oxytocin makes you think you’re in love, and it makes you bond with whoever you’ve been, um, hanging out with. Did you ever have, um, casual hanging out, and then feel annoyingly bonded to someone you didn’t even want to see again? Blame it on oxytocin.
Do you think you’re intellectually choosing your partner? Chances are against it. You may as well accept and enjoy it: better loving through chemistry!Kebba Buckley is a counselor and stress therapist with over 20 years’ experience. She will be presenting the March Forum, on “Love Styles”, Friday, March 9th.