According to Rosenblum's book, fear as well as fertility and compatibility can all be smelled. The reason behind this pretty interesting fact, is pretty similar to the bliss we feel when we light a beautifully scented candle, or the disgust we feel when our sibling passes gas in our vicinity.
More specifically, men can smell when a woman is ovulating, and it activates the motivation related processing in their brains. This was proven through an experiment published in 2021. Habel et al (2021) share that, "ovulation odor was found to lead to a stronger involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex, the precuneus, the insula and also the temporal-limbic structures including the temporal pole and the amygdala."
This experiment also tested using the scent of pregnant women. So, while I sit hear four months pregnant myself, I am now adding to my list of worries, the scent I exude!
Thanks for reading!
- Luci
References
Rosenblum, L. D. (2010). See What I'm Saying: The Extraordinary Powers of Our Five Senses. W.W. Norton & Company
Habel, U., Regenbogen, C., Kammann, C., Stickel, S., Chechko, N. (2021). Male Brain Processing of The Body Odor of Ovulating Women Compared to that of Pregnant Women. NeuroImage, Vol (229). DOI 117733. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.117733.
It is amazing how significant scent is to our bodies and brains! It's also super interesting to see how scent plays a part in our biology, such as ovulation. Great post and congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Katherine! I found this pretty fascinating too, and was excited to share it here, as well as with my husband!
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