Pheromones: what are they and how do they influence our sex life?

Romantic dinners, intimate and fascinating conversations in which seduction fills everything, sophisticated ways of finding attraction in the intelligence of the other... It seems that human sexuality is one of the most subtle creations of nature, one in which everything related to reproduction is precisely what matters the least of all.

However, it is still true that, rational or not, we are still part of the animal kingdom. And in the world of animals there is a chemical element that influences sexuality, also in our case: pheromones.

What are pheromones?

Pheromones are chemical substances generated by living beings and that are used to generate reactions in other individuals, of the same species or another. They are, so to speak, the raw material with which some forms of life establish communication with others.

Of course, that of pheromones is a very simple and primitive communication, which even has problems fitting into what can be understood by non-verbal communication. On the one hand, this transmission of information, but

does not use semantics or signs that can be cognitively processed. In fact, the whole process is automatic and non-conscious (and no, not in the way you would have imagined Sigmund Freud).

There are no possible interpretations in it. You simply receive a chemical signal and react accordingly, almost always in a predictable and stereotypical way. So that, pheromones are like pieces that can only fit a life form in one way.

This definition is very broad, but in practice one of the most important roles of pheromones has to do with a very specific one: that of reproduction.

Pheromones and the search for a mate

When human beings are looking for a partner (stable or punctual), the search for information about people among whom doubts rarely have to do with the analysis of speeches and messages verbal Non-verbal communication, such as gestures and postures, are very influential, because they are expressed through aesthetics and physical appearance.

The exterior of a person is not everything, but it is a layer of reality that natural evolution has taught us to appreciate a lot, because we have been developing ways to find relevant information about potential mates over millions of years, before we developed the ability to use language.

Pheromones are part of this primitive packaging that we tend to judge first before trying to analyze people's way of thinking and feeling. Its importance has to do with the following points:

1. They give an idea of ​​sexual compatibility

Pheromones make a lot of sense from the point of view of reproduction because, unconsciously, they give us an idea about the characteristics that a common son or daughter would have. Specifically, pheromones express aspects of the immune system of the person who secretes them, and it has been seen that in many animals individuals with an immune system more different from their own tend to be preferred. In this way the offspring have a more complete and encompassing one.

2. They indicate the presence of the state of sexual arousal

Pheromones induce one to orient one's behavior towards sexuality (either to feel attracted to someone or to feel the opposite), but they also tell us about the degree to which the person who segregates them shows a predisposition or not to have sex.

3. They give information about the ovulation cycle

This has been proven in non-human animals, and there are some signs that it could also be true in our species. In fact, it has been possible to record how the smell of women who are ovulating causes men's testosterone levels to rise. Something similar has been seen in women, that through the smell could detect possible “competition” when detecting ovulation from other.

This does not have to be too much from the point of view of how sexuality is lived in modern societies, in those that sexuality and reproduction have been separated, but for the selection of species it does have a lot of importance.

Studying pheromones in humans

What is known about pheromones is basically thanks to research in biology with non-human animals. Clues about the role these chemicals might be playing in human reproductive and affective behavior is unclear, because its effects are difficult to register in a species as sophisticated as ours.

After all, it's easy to see how pheromones work in small animals and with a less developed nervous system than ours, but as the complexity of behavior and the influence of society and culture increases, the role of these chemicals is blurred and hidden behind many layers of convoluted psychological processes.

Just as it is not the same to investigate memory by experimenting with chains of neurons than to do it with living human beings performing cognitive tasks complex, the study of pheromones in humans will need to be developed over many years to give us detailed explanations on how this element It affects us.