Pheromones, Scent, and Human Response: Debated in the Scientific Community

By Kaitlynne_Love 596 views 1st Oct 2025

Tips For Sellers Sellers’ Perspective Pheromones, Scent, and Human Response: Debated in the Scientific Community

‘The science of scent’ has been studied, but not deeply enough for us to fully understand it. Below are several excerpts from scientific studies on the VNO, which stands for ‘vomeronasal organ’. This organ is responsible for detecting pheromones in other animals. It's thought that the human VNO does not function – but as many here can attest, it does indeed. The scientific community is divided on whether or not we have functioning pheromones as well as the ability to detect them. It's also divided on whether or not it can have a physical effect on humans. Oftentimes, the same study will contradict itself - indicating that we just don't know enough to even be able to come up with solid theories.

Study:

“The concept of human pheromones is still debated in the scientific community, and no specific pheromone molecules have been definitively identified or proven to exist in humans”

I find the scientific community quite divided on this topic. Often, in the very same article, the ‘science’ will contradict itself. As with the above statement – at one point it says that the concept is debated, but then later states that human pheromones do exist.

Study:

“The human vomeronasal organ (VNO) has epithelia that may be able to serve as a chemical sensory organ; however, the genes that encode the VNO receptors are nonfunctional pseudogenes in humans. There seem to be no connections between the VNO and the central nervous system. The associated olfactory bulb is present in the fetus, but regresses and vanishes in the adult brain. There have been some reports that the human VNO does function, but only responds to hormones in a sex-specific manner. There also have been pheromone receptor genes found in olfactory mucosa.” Science HAS determined that the VNO and its associated components are indeed present during development in the womb. There have also been reports that pheromones and our ability to detect them does exist, but only when related to sex. I would certainly believe that portion of this paper!

Study:

“No pheromonal substance has ever been demonstrated to directly influence human behavior in a peer reviewed study. Thus, the role of pheromones in human behavior remains speculative and controversial. There is evidence that pheromones do affect humans. Despite this evidence, it has not been conclusively shown that humans have functional pheromones. Those experiments suggesting that certain pheromones have a positive effect on humans are countered by others indicating they have no effect whatsoever.”

I found this information quite interesting. I wholeheartedly disagree with the statement “no pheromonal substance has ever been demonstrated to directly influence human behavior”. Maybe I just found that scent is a strong turn-on for me, but I suspect more. For example, I may not be in the mood or even remotely aroused – until I smell him or her. I don’t like strong perfumes or colognes – it’s the actual body scent that does something to me.

Study:

“In humans, putative pheromones are thought to be secreted from skin glands, particularly the apocrine sweat glands found in the armpits, as well as the vulva and scrotum. They can also be present in other bodily fluids like urine, saliva, and semen.”

I absolutely LOVE the scent of genitals, the anus, and body odor such as armpits. This makes sense, given that these areas all have highly active pheromone secretions. This may also explain why I love the scent of a woman’s urine, the scent of semen, and the scent/taste of saliva. It's not just the act of ingesting these fluids – the scent alone drives me mad. It physically does something to me. The effect ranges from a sort of ‘ball of energy’ in my chest to a strong feeling like something is lifting up through my lower abdomen, and up through my chest and neck. I get a sort of fuzz in my head, and am immediately aroused. These are undebatable physical effects that I personally experience when exposed to the scent of areas known to have high concentrations of human pheromones.

Study:

“There have been no experiments that compare people lacking the VNO, and people that have it. It is disputed whether the chemicals are reaching the brain through the VNO or other tissues.”

I also find this interesting – while the scientific community states that humans don’t have active/functional VNOs, they then also state – in the same article – that some people do indeed have functional VNOs, at least in some way. I would certainly love to see a true study on this, not just postulating and various theories based on other science. As stated at the beginning of this article, I would wager that a LOT of people do have functioning VNOs and do physically respond to the presence of pheromones. A functioning VNO may very well explain why some people enjoy this site, and all of the items and products we can acquire here. We may have active, functioning vomeronasal organs. It would certainly explain my own physical response to the scent of both men and women as a bisexual.

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