Why, when we kiss "that one" legs give way and dizzy? In the article, we will explain in detail what the notorious "chemistry of love" is, using various terms and analyzing scientific research on pheromones.
Sometimes, looking at a new chosen one of a friend, we are perplexed - it seems that the guy does not shine with either appearance or intelligence, and it’s generally strange that her choice fell on this person, because she always claimed that she was crazy about brown-eyed brunettes, the same fair-haired a young man with a freckled face - does not fall into this category at all. But the feelings that the girl has for the newly-made gentleman are the most sincere and warm and she doesn’t care what others think about their union and all these statements, a la “he’s not a match for you”, “what did you find in him” will only anger the lover , but they will not force her to admit that her choice is not the right one.
At the same time, the beauty never suffered from a lack of attention from the opposite sex - promising young people, written beauties and athletes tried to capture her heart, but an inconspicuous, modest, thin engineer managed to conquer her. And such seemingly "illogical couples" can be found all the time, looking at them, it really begins to seem that it is not the brain that helps people when choosing, but a completely different organ. But which one?
Smell is responsible for choosing a companion
Throughout the history of the animal world of the planet, the most ancient sense - the sense of smell - was engaged in the choice of a companion, using which animals - from fish and spiders - to higher primates, chose a partner. But why did people decide that the sense of smell no longer works, dividing smells into two categories: pleasant and unpleasant?
Pheromones were discovered and isolated only in 1962 in the laboratory of the German biologist Adolf Butenandt. The scientist managed to isolate the pheromone with the help of silkworm females. Such a substance managed to attract males at great distances - up to 3 kilometers. The silkworm is able to catch the signal thanks to 100 molecules per cubic meter of space.
But the champions in sensitivity are recognized as male butterflies pear saturnia, which are able to smell the female for 10 kilometers. Two years ago, the French entomologist Fabre managed to find a cocoon of rare Saturnia, which he kept at home. On the same day that the female emerged from the cocoon, 150 males crowded into the room. All attempts to hide the butterfly from annoying gentlemen were unsuccessful - the males, no matter what, flocked and beat their wings against the cabinet doors. For them, only the smell was important, they were attracted even by those places where the female sat.
In 2004, the Nobel Prize went to Richard Axel and Linda Buck for their work on the study of the sense of smell in terms of the genetic code. Researchers have found that about 3% of the human genome is responsible for the olfactory system. This is quite a lot, since the main part of the genome is devoted to the life support of the cell, which is more complex than a Taiwanese electronics factory.
Man recognizes and stores 10,000 different odors in his memory, despite the fact that he has only 350 types of receptors. By the way, mice, cats and dogs have 350 types of receptors, monkeys have 700, and fish have 100. For animals, the sense of smell is the same organ as sight and touch, transmitting information to the higher parts of the brain, without trying to do anything on its own.
There is another type of receptor called "vomeronasal organ" or "Jacobson's organ", located in the same place, but a little deeper and its profile is not smells, but pheromones.
The vomeronasal system includes:
- vomeronasal nerve;
- Jacobson Organ;
- terminal nerve;
- accessory olfactory bulb.
How does the vomeronasal organ work in humans?
Initially, it was thought that humans had no vomeronasal organ at all. Then it turned out that the embryo still has it, but apparently it is reduced even before birth as unnecessary. As a result, some scientists came to the conclusion that every third person has such an organ, while others believe that absolutely everyone has it.
There is also an opinion that it is present not in both nostrils, but only in one. Despite the fact that the opinions of scientists differ, they all agree that in humans this organ is not as pronounced as in dogs and monkeys, it does not have a membrane and looks like small pockets deep in the nose at the base of the nasal septum. The size of this organ is different for everyone, the vomer tube can be 2-10 mm, and the diameter is from 0.2 to 2 mm.
The question arises - if so far it has not been possible to determine exactly how such an organ looks like, can it be argued that it works at all? In fact, there is a huge amount of research confirming the effect of chemical labels on human behavior.
The pheromones of higher primates were first discovered in macaques. The researchers were able to prove that the enzyme copulin from the vagina of females has the strongest effect on the vomeronasal organ of males, providing a stimulating effect.
Copulin is unable to influence human behavior in any way, but sweat components have a similar effect. At the University of Berkeley, it was proved that substances that are released from the sweat of men provoke an increase in the level of the hormone cortisol in women, but only in those who prefer men. Thus, the study showed that men and lesbians liked women's smells, and women and gays liked men's smells.
One of the most curious discoveries belongs to Robert Matchock, who managed to prove that puberty in girls who grow up without a father occurs earlier than in those whose family is complete, where the smell of the father acts as a pheromone that can slow down maturation. Until then, this effect was known only in animals - thus nature reduces the likelihood of incest. According to one study, women try to avoid men whose scent reminds them of their family and prefer those whose sweat code is as different as possible from their own.
After another study, it turned out that under the influence of birth control pills, the perception of pheromones changes and women begin to like more kindred spirits. Pills also block the production of their own pheromones.
Thus, it was not possible to identify the pheromone that could be the reason for all the polls of some kind of uniform and striking behavior. But, it is obvious that each person has a unique smell and is able to secrete pheromones, which can either attract or repel individually. This is what causes the failure of perfumes designed to increase attraction.
Neither knowledge about the compatibility of zodiac signs, nor a huge list of favorite films can help determine how healthy your child will be, but this question has been successfully answered for hundreds of millions of years by the vomeronasal organ.
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