What do pheremones do?
Pheremones influence how animals develop, mate, bond, and nurture their offspring. Odors can accelerate puberty, control women’s menstrual cycles, and even influence sexual orientation. They help us tell lovers and family members from strangers and let mothers and infants bond. Odors also affect how often we have sex, and with whom. How are pheremones detected? Pheremones act very differently from ‘normal’ smells. They utilize a special sensory organ called the Vomeronasal Organ (VNO), which is separate from the normal smelling process. Typically the organ is located in the nasal passages in close proximity to the opening or Nostil. It is in the form of a pit or sac and can seem gill-like. A chemical receptor, when the VNO senses pheremones it sends a signal to the brain in a language with no words, the language of ‘instinct’. The effect is reflexive and instantaneous. Neural pathways from the VNO extend to the hypothalamus the brain’s center for primal based instincts such as thirst,
