Pheromones famously trigger the olfactory system in animals, and have been linked to mating and aggressive behavior. For example, compounds in mouse urine can induce male mice to fight each other, and a rabbit mother will attack her own offspring if she smells a different female rabbit, according to Science. However, the presence of pheromones in humans has not been confirmed. In a study published in Science Advances on November 19, scientists identified a compound known as hexadecanal that seems to increase aggression in women who smell it but suppress aggression in men.
Eva Mishor, a study coauthor and neuroscientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel tells New Scientist, “Our study gives more power to the notion that humans communicate from the chemical volatiles they emit, and that we get lots of information from them.”
Hexadecanal, abbreviated HEX, is a chemical that humans emit from their skin, saliva, ...
