Camille Ferdenzi, Arnaud Fournel, Nicolas Baldovini, Daphnée Poupon, Déborah Ligout, Marc Thévenet, Romain Bouet, Moustafa Bensafi
Body odors convey information about the individuals, but the mechanisms are not fully understood yet. As far as human reproduction is concerned, molecules that are produced in sexually dimorphic amounts could be possible chemosignals. 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid (HMHA) is one of them-more typical of men. Here, we investigated the possibility that the perception of gender and attractiveness in human faces could be implicitly influenced by this compound. Clearly feminine, ambiguous and clearly masculine faces were primed with an odor of HMHA, a control odor or air...
January 12, 2024: Perception