Attraction: The Quality of characteristic or energy that draws the attention and pulls towards it; is called attraction. It is an instinct, gifted impulse of nature for promotion of existence. It is uncontrollable and irresistible. But what attracts us to one another? Is it his or her looks?
Every day men and women come into contact with each other. Why is it only one person will catch his or her fancy? Some people are physically attracted through their eyes, while others are attracted to someone though all their senses. We are all different.
But what determines these preferences? For the purpose of this article I will use the attraction of a man to a woman. Who might he be attracted to? At first sight, he might notice the overall shape of her body.
His attraction to her may include the overall package. He may be drawn to her facial features first. Everything about her is pleasing to his senses. But bio-chemistry tells a different story. According to a group of scientists,”We instinctively select mates who will enhance the survival of the species”. The process of finding the perfect mate involves series of conscious and unconscious determinations made by the brain and body of the organisms seeking to reproduce.
One of the key elements that stimulates our brains in order to attract a mate is a hormone known as pheromones.( the word Pheromone comes from Greek origin from the word Pheran, meaning to transfer and Horman, meaning to excite.) These hormones are found all throughout the animal world and help to influence sexual behavior. Humans are no exception. Everyone, both men and women, create pheromones to some degree (some more than others). What are Pheromones? Pheromones are invisible, odorless chemicals that originate in the apocrine glands of the skin located in the axillae(area under the joint connecting arm to the shoulder) of the armpits and pubic region and are secreted through our skin with sweat and other bodily fluids. The purpose of pheromones is to induce either a biological or behavioral response in other people. For the longest time scientist thought that pheromones were only found in animals because humans were too advanced to rely on such a basic instinctual method of attracting a mate. But research throughout the years has since proven that theory wrong. Mammals, which includes any warm-blooded animal that has fur and gives birth to live young rather than laying eggs, have a special structure inside of their nose called the vomeronasal organ ( or VNO). This is a small bulbous organ with lots of blood vessels and is highly sensitive to smells. The human nose has a VNO but it doesn’t exist in the same functional form as other mammals. In fact, sensing of human pheromones occurs well below the level of human consciousness. Signals that pheromones are being released are subconsciously picked up and then sent to the hypothalamus region(It manages the basic drives and emotions.) of the brain. Most of the time, humans are not even aware that pheromones are being released. Men and women both have pheromones. However, the chemicals in each gender are different. There are two main chemicals which are different: androstenone and copulin. It is these two chemicals which the brain processes unconsciously which cause a physiological and behavioral change in others. The chemical androstenone is the primary pheromone found only in men.( Other secretions are also derived from testosterone and androstenol.) It is responsible for increasing the ‘animal attractiveness’ of a man as well as bringing about an increase in the luteinizing hormone (or LH) in a woman. The increase in a woman’s LH will cause a woman to have a heightened sexual response to a man. For the other gender, the chemical copulin has been identified as the primary female pheromone. When copulin is secreted into the area around a woman, it brings about a surge of testosterone in men. The end result is that a man will have a heightened sexual response to a woman. It is reported that when two individuals in the presence of each other are secreting pheromones simultaneously the sexual attraction is impossible to ignore. Our nose simply is not capable of detecting the odorless scent of pheromones (The chemicals behind attraction). Pheromones not only affect feelings of attraction and desire, they also seem to affect people’s general impressions and assessments. People with high levels of pheromones have more attention paid to them and are generally well-liked by members of the opposite sex.
While men and women both emit and are affected by pheromones, females unknowingly respond to these chemical signals when searching for a partner. Most females swoon over the looks of handsome men, with defined muscle and beautiful symmetrical facial features, but fail to realize that attraction does not solely revolve around physical attributes: "it's not how you look on the outside but what's on the inside that counts". ;-)
There has been recent evidence produced that shows that humans are likely to have an unconscious pheromone-sensing nose to match the conscious odor-detecting nose. What is more is that research has shown that certain male and female steroids activate different parts of the human brain depending not just on the smeller’s sex but also on the smeller’s sexual orientation. The pheromones from male act as an emotional stimuli and also carry an array of markers that can identify a particular male’s Major Histocompatibility Complex(MHC). MHC is the cluster of genes that play an important role in immune function.
By choosing opposite allele(either of the pair of alternative forms of a gene) types in the MHC the female is ensuring the energetic investment made by her nine month gestation period will result in a viable and healthy offspring.
Hence we can say that the complexity of relationships is not completely under the control of an individual but it also remains under the grip of chemical signals.
Deep Patel
7th Computer
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www.jagteraho.co.in
