Abstract:
Although men\'s attraction to women\'s body odour has been suggested to vary over the ovulatory cycle, peaking around the fertile window, we still lack methodologically robust evidence corroborating this effect. Further, the chemical underpinnings of male preference for the odour of ovulating women remain unknown. Here, we combined perceptual and chemical analyses to investigate the axillary odour of naturally cycling women over 10 days, covering the gradual change in fertility across the ovulatory cycle with a focus on fertile days. The fertile state was confirmed by urinary ovulation tests as well as salivary oestradiol and progesterone levels. Men rated the scent of unfamiliar women, resembling a first encounter. We used multivariate analyses to relate variation in both odour ratings and chemical composition to female conception probability, temporal distance to ovulation and ovarian hormone levels. Our results provide no evidence that males prefer the odour of fertile women. Furthermore, the volatile analysis indicated no link between axillary odour composition and current fertility status. Together, our results showed no convincing support for a chemical fertility cue in women\'s axillary odour, questioning the presence of olfactory fertility information that is recognizable during first encounters in modern humans.
摘要:
虽然男性对女性体味的吸引力被认为在排卵周期内有所不同,在肥沃的窗户周围达到顶峰,我们仍然缺乏方法上有力的证据来证实这种影响。Further,男性偏爱排卵女性气味的化学基础仍然未知。这里,我们结合了知觉和化学分析来调查10天以上自然骑自行车的女性的腋下气味,涵盖整个排卵周期中生育能力的逐渐变化,重点是肥沃的日子。通过尿排卵测试以及唾液雌二醇和孕酮水平证实了可育状态。男人评价陌生女人的气味,就像第一次相遇。我们使用多变量分析将气味等级和化学成分的变化与女性受孕概率联系起来,时间距离排卵和卵巢激素水平。我们的结果没有证据表明男性更喜欢有生育能力的女性的气味。此外,挥发性分析表明腋臭成分与当前生育状况之间没有联系.一起,我们的结果显示,在女性腋窝气味中没有令人信服的化学生育线索支持,质疑是否存在嗅觉生育信息,这些信息在现代人的第一次接触中可以识别。