Pheromones - Are We Really Controlled by Something We Can't See, Touch, Taste or Smell? Pheromones are real. They have been proven to exist, to have a powerful effect on humans and how we choose our sexual partners and lifetimes mates, and to also be a large part of the animal world and how they communicate and how humans are actually sexually attracted to one another. Just one example in the animal kingdom of how pheromones work is the case of the ant. Ants actually communicate largely through pheromones. While ants are the extreme example of how pheromones can have a very influential presence, they are just one of the many demonstrations of the power of pheromone communication. Here's How They Work in the Ant World: When a foraging ant finds food on its way home, it will leave a pheromone trail along the ground, which in a short time other ants will pick up on and follow. When they return home they will again leave a pheromone "tracking device" on the trail, bringing other ants, until the food runs out, after which the trail is not reinforced and slowly evaporates. This is far from how people use pheromones, as we do not use them as heavily in our "practical" communications such as hunting and gathering, but humans do utilize pheromones heavily in interactions with other people, romantic interest, physical attraction, and even friendship between both men and women. Pheromones are what attracts us to one another. Some people may emit more of this elusive hormone, other may not emit so much, and therefore do not receive as much attention from the opposit sex during those times. Pheromones, and their associated function, were discovered fully and studied in depth in the 1980's by a team of scientists questioning their role in the human race. We already knew they were powerful communication tools for many animal species, but what role did they play for people? In an article published in the Washington Post by Boyce Rensberger, on November 18, 1986, it was revealed that scientists in Philadelphia established the presence and utilization of the elusive pheromone, which was determined to be "a special aromatic chemical compound discharged by one individual that affect the sexual physiology of another." So, Do Any of the Studies Lend Credibility to the Effectiveness of Topically Applied Pheromones in Human Attraction? It was demonstrated by one of the studie's pioneers, Winnifred Cutler PhD, that pheromones could be extracted from the atmosphere into which they were emitted, frozen for up to one year, and applied to the body (specifically the upper lip in the study), and had very similar effects to pheromones found in nature. This news was exciting for scientists, as it opened the door to other human functions that were as yet undiscovered since they were almost sublminal in nature. Not only that, it provided a lot of insight into human attraction, our mating rituals and why we are attracted to some people more strongly than others. There are still some ongoing studies on pheromones today, but it is not a particular focus since their general function has been exposed for the world to see - and take advantage of! |
