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Biotech Science

This Just In: People Smell 50

Posted by timothy from the nasal-gazing dept.
SAPHRguru writes "New Scientist reports (10 Nov) that researchers may have taken a big step towards solving the mystery of how humans detect pheromones... we do it through our noses! Strange, I always thought I responded to chemical cues through my mouth (especially in brownies)!"
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This Just In: People Smell More

This Just In: People Smell

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  • Now I can tell all those people that tell me that my feet smell that they are wrong.
  • For a short minute I thought Slashdot had been hacked again. LMAO.
  • Is he talking about *special* brownies?

  • No VMO in humans? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nlh ( 80031 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2003 @08:10PM (#7449440) Homepage
    Ok, I'm confused. According to the article:

    ...scientists have never been able to identify a VMO in humans, despite evidence that they do respond to pheromones.

    But that doesn't sound right. Believe it or not, I actually wrote a paper for my freshman psychology class back in Fall '96 on the effect of human pheromones and the VMO. At that time, at least, it was fairly well known that the VMO did indeed exist in humans, and that even its location in the human body was known (See this [nih.gov] and this [fsu.edu], for example).

    So when did it vanish from scientific literature, or was its existence called into question?

    • Re:No VMO in humans? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Alsee ( 515537 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2003 @10:31PM (#7450273) Homepage
      So when did it vanish

      Damnit damnit damnit!

      You travel 42,000 light years, you abduct a sample life form in stasis, you spend over a year constructing a simulated enviornment, you fill that enviornment with a bunch of simulated life forms, and some third-rate contractor leaves out the damn VMOs!

      -

    • Re:No VMO in humans? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by SEE ( 7681 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2003 @10:51PM (#7450374) Homepage
      Yeah, New Scientist made a hash of it.

      Humans have a VNO, but whether it works or not is a disputed question; there's both physiological and genetic reasons to believe that it's vestigial in humans, and possibly apes and Old World monkeys. If it is, then pheremones, which we know affect humans, must be detected by another system.

      So what the researchers in this case did was see if pheremones could cause reactions in the main olfactory system of mice. If they did (and they did), it explains how humans can be affected by pheremones despite a possibly vestigial VNO.

    • Re:No VMO in humans? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      From the two links:

      These morphologic findings, which are unique in the human body, suggest that a chemosensory epithelium corresponding to a vomeronasal organ may exist

      There is no evidence for true vomeronasal sensory nerves connecting the organ to the brain.

      So, according to your links, people believed that it maybe exists (or maybe not), but probably doesn't connect to the brain. If people respond to pheromones, then either they must perceive them by a different route, or there must be nerves that

  • This is a MOUSE STUDY!!! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by GuyMannDude ( 574364 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2003 @08:13PM (#7449460) Journal

    Guys, relax. The article clearly states that this study was done on MICE and not HUMANS!! They're just making a guess that people detect pheromones through their nose, too -- they don't know this.

    Talk about jumping the gun...

    GMD

    • They're just making a guess that people detect pheromones through their nose, too -- they don't know this.

      Since we really don't know for sure, lets spend $50 million to find out.

      • Since we really don't know for sure, lets spend $50 million to find out.

        It could well be worth that much of an investment to marketing specialists.

        If the mechanism is determined, then you can bet that the next time you walk into a department store or a casino you'll be feeling extra sexy for a reason.


    • > Guys, relax. The article clearly states that this study was done on MICE and not HUMANS!!

      Yeah, but when you get 50 e-msgs a day asking
      Are you a mouse or a man? ... g83ka,
      this kind of news can rattle you!

    • The researchers have found that pheromones activate the mouse olfactory system which is used for detecting smells. Humans has a very similar system, so suggesting that we also can detect pheromones isn't such a big stretch.

      Like it or not, there are many things we have in common with mice. And bacteria etc for that matter.

    • ...this study was done on MICE and not HUMANS

      What makes you think that journalists and people like us differentiate between animals and humans?

      Hey, stop squirting that stuff in my eyes!
      (unemployed programmer in testing lab)

  • Urine as a social signal (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 11, 2003 @08:20PM (#7449512)

    The team is now trying to determine how the process may work in humans. "But we don't generally use urine as a social signal," notes Katz.

    Hey, speak for yourself, Professor Science! I find pissing in the direction of someone I don't like to be much easier and cleaner than flinging my feces at them and it gets the point across just as effectively!

  • ...So I'll do it.

    Ahem.

    My dog has no nose.

  • Anosmia? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by robson ( 60067 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2003 @11:32PM (#7450592)
    Are pheromones delivered through the *exact same* sensory mechanism as smell, or do they diverge into separate paths at some point?

    I ask because I have congenital anosmia -- no sense of smell. None. What I want to know is whether I'm still picking up on the subtle messages delivered by pheromones.
    • If you're concerned that you're missing the subtle signals of pheromones, you could be missing the forest for the trees.

      For example, if she throws a leg over and grinds on your pubic bone, she might be horny for you.

      This sort of signal is immune to interference preventing the reception of pheromones, such as allergies, head colds, or even congenital anosmia.
  • I can predict future spams:

    Sexually Attract Women Instantly with nature's secret weapon... Pheromones!!

    Invisible and undetectable, when unknowingly inhaled by any woman, Androstenone Pheromone Concentrate for men unblocks all restraints and releases her raw animal sex drive!

    This amazing product is sold in stores for $99.95 a bottle. Our price is less... MUCH LESS! This is the strongest concentration of HUMAN pheromones, allowed by law, in an essential oil base. It smells great!

    Other men will envy your

  • From the extremely fscking obvious dept.

    Also just in: Oxygen deprivation may lead to death!

    Q.

  • The really sad part about the article... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by tuxedobob ( 582913 ) <<tuxedobob> <at> <mac.com>> on Wednesday November 12, 2003 @03:41AM (#7451540)
    ...is that they only quote one doctor.

    That quote is at the end of the article.

    The doctor tells us, "But we don't generally use urine as a social signal."

    They didn't get anything else they could print?

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