Does scent attractiveness reveal women's ovulatory timing? Evidence from signal detection analyses and endocrine predictors of odour attractiveness.

ABSTRACT: Odour cues associated with shifts in ovarian hormones indicate ovulatory timing in females of many nonhuman species. Although prior evidence supports women's body odours smelling more attractive on days when conception is possible, that research has left ambiguous how diagnostic of ovulatory timing odour cues are, as well as whether shifts in odour attractiveness are correlated with shifts in ovarian hormones. Here, 46 women each provided six overnight scent and corresponding day saliva samples spaced five days apart, and completed luteinizing hormone tests to determine ovulatory timing. Scent samples collected near ovulation were rated more attractive, on average, relative to samples from the same women collected on other days. Importantly, however, signal detection analyses showed that r

SUBMITTER: Mei M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8905178 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature