Pheromones are chemical compounds produced in humans and animals which may trigger certain reactions in other humans or animals. They are released with the production of certain hormones at various times. They are released mainly through the sweat glands.

They may be released when the person or animal experiences anger, fear, or surprise. They are also released by a woman’s body when she is ovulating. I imagine that this is what draws male animals to frmales when they are in heat. This is the best time for reproduction and it is believed that these pheromones also stir the sex drive in men.

Pheromones are detected by the vomeronasal organ so they are not detected by olfactory glands like regular odors. They have no discernable odor so in that sense you can’t compare them to fragrances. Fragrances are also known to elicit responses in humans. Many times a fragrance may bring back memories of a special time or occasion. For example we associate certain fragrances like cinnamon, frankincense, and pine with Christmas or other holidays.  You may associate a fragrance with a loved one or have a negative connotation of that fragrance based on a bad thing that happened at a time when the fragrance was present.

Maybe a lover who hurt you deeply always wore a certain fragrance. Maybe there was a certain fragrance present when you had a really good time with someone in your past and you remember that time whenever you see them. In any event these scents will elicit a response from you based on your experience. A really good smelling perfume will attract you to a person while a bad smell will repulse you. The difference with pheromones is that they work by giving chemical triggers rather than physical triggers.

Many perfume makers claim that when these compounds are added to perfumes that they will produce a desired effect. Well as far as I’m concerned the jury is still out on that one. I’m not so sure that we can mimic the effects of pheromones by attempting to duplicate the compounds that they contain. Yes they work naturally but mixing them with perfumes or colognes will serve to change their composition. If we can successfully mimic them or extract them from people we can certainly use them eventually to create predictable behavior. They are believed to affect sexual attraction, and physical attraction most of all. I believe that they also give us clues to the intentions of others. For example they may alert us to the fact that another person is experiencing fear, or anger. The reason for this is they are produced with adrenalin at these specific times.

I also believe that the amount and the intensity of pheromones secreted by each person differ depending on that person’s body chemistry. Pheromones can’t be produced by perfumers so this is another reason to be wary of advertisements for perfumes and colognes which are stated to contain them. Now I am not saying that they don’t contain the real thing, I’m just saying that you have to be careful when you hear certain types of claims advertised. This is a broad and relatively new area of study. There are many things yet to be learned about the causes and effects of these chemical compounds called pheromones.

. As we grow we will eventually learn much more about how these chemicals operate and we will probably be able to harness their potential to effect human behavior.