Smell. Everyone has a distinct one. It’s something you do instinctually to differentiate between your mom and a stranger. You don’t mean to but when you meet your significant other, you bury your nose into their clothes or their hair and smell them. A smell can transport us back to a specific time or place or to a certain memory. But who knew that just a smell could be powerful enough to help us decide a future life partner?
Elite Daily posted an article titled, “It’s Chemistry: Why You Secretly Love Your Boyfriend’s Body Odor.” The article discussed of how the scent of your partner could determine whether they are going to be your future life partner. In a 1995 study, a group of scientists set out to find if there was an MHC-dependent mate preferences in humans. MHC stands for major histocompatibility complex. The results showed that women preferred the body odors of men whose MHC compositions differed from theirs. This lead to the idea of whether body odor takes part in choosing a mate.
A different study lead by Christine Garver Apgar at the University of New Mexico showed that similar MHC compositions between partners resulted in higher rates of miscarriages. This lead to the theory that women prefer men whose immune systems are genetically different so the baby’s immune system would have a greater genetic variation to protect itself from diseases. The research also showed that the more alike the MHC compositions were between partners, the lower their sexual responsiveness were to one another.
This article correlated with the lecture that Professor Bazza had given at Loyola University Chicago on March 1st, 2016. Professor Bazza is studying the neural basis of behavior and how the neural circuits contribute to sensory perception and behavior. In particular, he wanted to study the effects of the olfactory system on behavior. For example, when we smell coffee, the behavior of getting up and ready for work is associated with it and therefore that is what we do.
Professor Bazza explained the many difficulties of studying the molecular basis of olfaction. Not only are there many receptors in the olfactory system, but they are often cross-reactive so it’s hard to single out one receptor and study it. It is also hard to categorize a stimulus especially because many odors are complex. Professor Bazza explained that to study olfaction, we need to study active defined ligands. One of the ligands Professor Bazza identified was the ligand PEA. PEA is a predator- derived aversive odor. It is enriched in carnivore urine and mice are very aversive to this odor. Professor Bazza wanted to study if the aversion to the smell was hard-wired. However, Professor Bazza’s lab realized that the aversion came from selective activation. This lead to the conclusion that behavior to odors can be modified by experience and the neuroendocrines of an individual’s system.
I felt like this talk related well with the article on Elite Daily because this could explain the reason for why the smell of your mate could determine whether they were a suitable to produce the healthiest baby. Professor Bazza explained that aversion results from past experiences. Evolution of mankind could have resulted in many trial and error when choosing the mate. Females may have developed their sense of smell to pick out a genetically different male to produce the healthiest baby.
So, the next time you hug your significant other, take a whiff of them and compare it to someone in your family or even yourself. It’s probably going to be a completely different experience.
Sources:
Bazza, Thomas. “Genetic Dissection of Olfactory Perception in the Mouse.” Loyola University Chicago. Cuneo 109, Chicago. 1 March. 2016. Lecture
No comments:
Post a Comment