The Weizmann Institute found that the smell of feces irritates women and soothes men at the same time soothes men. The results of the study are published in the journal Science Advances.
Experts have discovered that the human body releases a volatile substance – hexadecanal. This compound can be found in human respiration and feces and can affect men and women in different ways.
127 people of both sexes, aged 21 to 34 years, took part in the experiment. They were offered to play an online economic game after having smelled clove oil. Half of the participants added a hexadecanal to it. As a result, women behaved aggressively in the game, while men reacted to the events taking place in the game more calmly.
MRI examination of the brain of the participants in the experiment confirmed that in women the hexadecanal increased the activity of neurons in the centers of aggression, and in male representatives, on the contrary, reduced them. Now scientists intend to find out the reasons for such a different reaction.
Previously, scientists from Goldsmith University, as a result of a study, concluded that ideal hugs last from five to ten seconds. At the same time, the first hugs felt more awkward and less controlled than the subsequent ones. Also less pleasant were the hugs lasting a second. But the way of hugging did not affect the emotional perception.