Recent publication

[jvkohl]

European Journal of

Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology



http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03012115

Review
Human pheromones and

sexual attraction
Karl Grammer, Bernhard Fink, and Nick Neave

Ludwig–Boltzmann-Institute for Urban

Ethology, c/o Institute of
Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; Human

Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, School of Psychology and Sport Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne,

NE1 8ST, UK.

Abstract

Olfactory communication is very common amongst animals, and since the discovery

of an accessory olfactory system in humans, possible human olfactory communication has gained considerable

scientific interest. The importance of the human sense of smell has by far been underestimated in the past. Humans

and other primates have been regarded as primarily `optical animals' with highly developed powers of vision but a

relatively undeveloped sense of smell. In recent years this assumption has undergone major revision. Several studies

indicate that humans indeed seem to use olfactory communication and are even able to produce and perceive certain

pheromones; recent studies have found that pheromones may play an important role in the behavioural and reproduction

biology of humans. In this article we review the present evidence of the effect of human pheromones and discuss the

role of olfactory cues in human sexual behaviour.