Smelling Out Your Perfect Mate
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:16 pm
By Paul Carey
Western Mail - UK
We may all think that we choose our perfect partners based on their appearance, personality or even the size of their wallet, but research by a Welsh expert reveals the key to finding your soul-mate is the way they smell.
Professor Tim Jacob, head of the smell research laboratory at Cardiff University, claims that in finding our perfect partner, we are reacting to the subtle odour we are all born with.
He claims this phenomenon is nature's way of ensuring that children are born with the strongest immune systems possible to fight off disease.
And when it comes to finding your husband or wife, the research reveals that opposites do attract.
"This is a subtle smell - it's not the sweaty body odour someone has after doing hard manual labour for a few days without washing," he said.
"This is an inherent smell that we all carry - you can't change it by washing or perfume."
In a review, commissioned by the decongestant manufacturer Sudafed, Prof Jacob has found that every person is born with a certain odour-type, which is dependent on their immuno-type, or immunogenetic status - the body's own defence mechanism against disease and illness.
Odour-types are not the same as pheromones, which some believe play an important role in social and chemical interaction.
Sniffer dogs use odour-types to distinguish individuals, but research has also revealed that humans not only use smell to distinguish between individuals but we actively select our mates based on odour-type.
Unlike any of the other senses, smell has direct access to the more primitive parts of the brain, which are linked to mood, emotion and memory - brain-imaging techniques have shown that smell can activate parts of the brain without being consciously perceived.
The main source of human odour is the apocrine - sweat - glands, which are found around the nipples, sternum, genitals, underarms, hair follicles, cheeks, eyelids, ears and scalp.
When people kiss they are also "tasting" a person's odour-type, which in turn will help determine whether that person could be their perfect mate.
Prof Jacob said there are thousands of different immuno and odour-types, but rather than seek out people with a similar smell, humans prefer to bond with people with a different odour-type, to ensure any children born as a result of their union will inherit two different immuno-types, bolstering their natural defence systems against disease.
Research has shown that women prefer male odours that are different from their own genetic makeup - the smell from men with the same genetic make-up was found to be unpleasant.
Marriages between people with similar genetic make-up are not as frequent as expected and a high degree of genetic similarity between parents could even increase the chances of miscarriage.
more:
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news ... 02&method=
full&siteid=50082&headline=smelling-out-your-perfect-mate-name_page.html
Western Mail - UK
We may all think that we choose our perfect partners based on their appearance, personality or even the size of their wallet, but research by a Welsh expert reveals the key to finding your soul-mate is the way they smell.
Professor Tim Jacob, head of the smell research laboratory at Cardiff University, claims that in finding our perfect partner, we are reacting to the subtle odour we are all born with.
He claims this phenomenon is nature's way of ensuring that children are born with the strongest immune systems possible to fight off disease.
And when it comes to finding your husband or wife, the research reveals that opposites do attract.
"This is a subtle smell - it's not the sweaty body odour someone has after doing hard manual labour for a few days without washing," he said.
"This is an inherent smell that we all carry - you can't change it by washing or perfume."
In a review, commissioned by the decongestant manufacturer Sudafed, Prof Jacob has found that every person is born with a certain odour-type, which is dependent on their immuno-type, or immunogenetic status - the body's own defence mechanism against disease and illness.
Odour-types are not the same as pheromones, which some believe play an important role in social and chemical interaction.
Sniffer dogs use odour-types to distinguish individuals, but research has also revealed that humans not only use smell to distinguish between individuals but we actively select our mates based on odour-type.
Unlike any of the other senses, smell has direct access to the more primitive parts of the brain, which are linked to mood, emotion and memory - brain-imaging techniques have shown that smell can activate parts of the brain without being consciously perceived.
The main source of human odour is the apocrine - sweat - glands, which are found around the nipples, sternum, genitals, underarms, hair follicles, cheeks, eyelids, ears and scalp.
When people kiss they are also "tasting" a person's odour-type, which in turn will help determine whether that person could be their perfect mate.
Prof Jacob said there are thousands of different immuno and odour-types, but rather than seek out people with a similar smell, humans prefer to bond with people with a different odour-type, to ensure any children born as a result of their union will inherit two different immuno-types, bolstering their natural defence systems against disease.
Research has shown that women prefer male odours that are different from their own genetic makeup - the smell from men with the same genetic make-up was found to be unpleasant.
Marriages between people with similar genetic make-up are not as frequent as expected and a high degree of genetic similarity between parents could even increase the chances of miscarriage.
more:
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news ... 02&method=
full&siteid=50082&headline=smelling-out-your-perfect-mate-name_page.html
Interesting stuff, I have an accute sense of smell it drives me crazy sometimes. I would put it close to a dogs nose..(which is not a bad thing). :wah: It gets me in trouble sometimes. I have to walk away from places, and people the smells just invade my nose, and makes me nausated. 