‘Attraction chemicals’ pheromones do not exist, claims scientist

LONDON - Pheromones-the mysterious chemical signals that ‘trigger attraction’-do not even exist, a scientist has claimed.

Richard Doty at Penn State University’s School of Medicine said that mammals, unlike insects, do not give off chemical signals that other mammals can then pick up.

Doty said he does not believe that a single chemical emitted by one mammal can induce a behavioral change in another of the same species.heromones have long been believed to induce attraction between people.

Doty, who has written a book called ‘The Great Pheromone Myth’, has dismissed the entire concept.

“The pheromone term seems to have mainly attracted perfume manufacturers and people looking for the fountain of youth,” the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.

“It’s just not the way things are. It would be like saying a particular colour is why we choose a mate. That’s just not how relationships are formed.

“People have oversimplified the nature of the olfactory system. It’s the brain that interprets what meaning is. Conditioning plays a very significant role in all aspects of human and mammal behaviour,” he said. (ANI)