Pheromone study proves beauty is more than skin deep
manufacturers to use synthesized human pheromones in its products,
has welcomed a scientific report, which validates the claim that
pheromones have the ability to alter human emotions. Tom
Armitage reports.
Pheromones are odourless complex organic compounds - invisible to the five human senses - and are found on the surface of both animal and human skin. Upon release, the chemicals stimulate a system of receptors, which researchers have discovered are detected by an organ found 3 inches inside the nose (formally known as the Vomeronasal organ).
It is in this respect that pheromones create an alluring aura to the opposite sex - literally - a concept which marketers of cosmetics fragrances and personal care products have used for many years, and, it may be added, with a great deal of success.
Researchers at the University of California conducted research involving synthesized human pheromones, specifically focusing on 4, 16-androstadien-3-one (an androstadienone) - one of the main pheromone components used in the company's patented "Natural Attraction" fragrance and toiletry range, which the company describe as, "lifestyle enhancing consumer products".
Using both psychological and physiological methods, scientists measured the reactions of 60 participants following exposure to varying concentrations of the compound on their autonomic nervous system function and mood.
The research, conducted on female participants, discovered that when exposed to higher concentrations of the synthesized pheromone, they subsequently exerienced an increased positive mood, as well as a decreased negative mood.
For many cosmetics manufacturers, the use of human pheromones is still relatively unfamiliar territory - due in part to the sizeable research and development costs, and also to the fact that many synthesized human pheromones have already been patented in the lucrative EU and US markets.
Cosmetics manufacturers have for a number of years used pheromones present on animal skin in their products, although acquiring patents for the use of synthetic human pheromones in consumer products, including fragrances, is considerably more difficult.
The pheromone study comes only a week after pioneering scientists Richard Axel and Linda Buck were rewarded for their efforts to unravel the olfactory system, which earnt them a joint Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2004.
