If you breathe this, is it easier for you to fall in love?

• May 2, 2024

Ads, movies and even fragrances show the pheromones as something necessary to attract people; something like humans experience the "love to smell first " How true is it?

These chemicals are secreted by different glands in the body that allow communication between members of the same species, says the doctor Rosalinda Guevara Guzmán, from the Physiology Department of the Faculty of Medicine of the UNAM.

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The olfactory signals are captured by some vertebrate animals thanks to the vomeronasal organ and play a role in sexual attraction, although they also intervene in territorial marking. Surely you've seen that dogs, cats or rabbits throw their urine in certain places, marking them with segregations rich in pheromones .

This marking, besides alerting to possible invaders, warns the males when a female is in reproductive period.

Another function of the pheromones it is the connection between conspecifics and the recognition between members of a family; For example, mothers can identify their offspring through these volatile substances, says Dr. Guevara.

And in humans? The researcher clarifies that although pheromones play a role in the sexual attraction between human beings, they are not determinant, since there are other factors that influence such as the visual, auditory and social factors that help us in the selection of a couple.

In conclusion, our species is complex, so that love does not just start with the nose.