Women's faces become more attractive if a pleasant smell is present, researchers have found.
They say that odours can change the way we look at attractiveness and perceive each other.
However, they found the effect does not extend to making people appear younger - simply prettier.
The research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center reveals that women's faces are rated as more attractive in the presence of pleasant odors.
'Odor pleasantness and facial attractiveness integrate into one joint emotional evaluation,' said Janina Seubert, a cognitive neuroscientist who led the research.
'This may indicate a common site of neural processing in the brain.'
Perfumes and scented products have been used for centuries as a way to enhance overall personal appearance.
Previous studies had shown perception of facial attractiveness could be influenced when using unpleasant vs. pleasant odors.
However, it was not known whether odors influence the actual visual perception of facial features or alternatively, how faces are emotionally evaluated by the brain.
The current study design centered on the principle that judging attractiveness and age involve two distinct perceptual processing methods: attractiveness is regarded as an emotional process while judgments of age are believed to be cognitive, or rationally-based.
This suggests that olfactory and visual cues independently influence judgments of facial attractiveness.
With regard to the cognitive task of age evaluation, visual age cues (more wrinkles and blemishes) were linked to older age perception.
However, odor pleasantness had a mixed effect.
Visual age cues strongly influenced age perception during pleasant odor stimulation, making older faces look older and younger faces look younger.
This effect was weakened in the presence of unpleasant odors, so that younger and older faces were perceived to be more similar in age.
Jean-Marc Dessirier, Lead Scientist at Unilever and a co-author on the study said, 'These findings have fascinating implications in terms of how pleasant smells may help enhance natural appearance within social settings.
'The next step will be to see if the findings extend to evaluation of male facial attractiveness.'
Certain Smells Can Trigger Migraine
For instance, onions are regarded as one of the most common causes of migraines but a recent study finds that it can also cure the condition. Approximately 15 percent of adults in the UK suffer from migraine. Symptoms of the disease include nausea and sensitivity to light and it is normally triggered by sudden changes in the natural chemicals found in the brain. The study confirmed that 75.9 percent of cases do not have identifiable triggers but some of the most common causes include stress, fluctuations in hormone, sudden change in weather, sleep disturbance, diet and flickering lights or images.
The study also claims that more than 50 percent of migraine sufferers are sensitive to a specific odor and this condition is known as osmophobia. The researchers found that women can be particularly sensitive, with approximately 70 percent who claim that smell is a trigger. One of the cases reported showed a 32-year old woman who found that raw onions and garlic caused a 'migraine aura'. The Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation confirmed that the patient experienced a crushing headache after an hour of being exposed to the smell.
Nose plugs and over the counter peppermints were given to the patient to relieve her from the pain brought about by migraine. The researchers confirmed that onions, as well as other smells, may induce changes in the emotions as the areas of the brain that govern both smell and emotion are closely linked. Dr. Nicholas Silver, consultant neurologist at the Walton Center for Neurology and Neurosurgery said: "We found that common odor triggers include perfumes, aerosols, car air fresheners, cooking smells, particularly those that are fried or fatty, as well as the smell of cigarettes."
sources:http://en.twwtn.com/Life/63_54880.html
They say that odours can change the way we look at attractiveness and perceive each other.
However, they found the effect does not extend to making people appear younger - simply prettier.
The research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center reveals that women's faces are rated as more attractive in the presence of pleasant odors.
'Odor pleasantness and facial attractiveness integrate into one joint emotional evaluation,' said Janina Seubert, a cognitive neuroscientist who led the research.
'This may indicate a common site of neural processing in the brain.'
Perfumes and scented products have been used for centuries as a way to enhance overall personal appearance.
Previous studies had shown perception of facial attractiveness could be influenced when using unpleasant vs. pleasant odors.
However, it was not known whether odors influence the actual visual perception of facial features or alternatively, how faces are emotionally evaluated by the brain.
The current study design centered on the principle that judging attractiveness and age involve two distinct perceptual processing methods: attractiveness is regarded as an emotional process while judgments of age are believed to be cognitive, or rationally-based.
This suggests that olfactory and visual cues independently influence judgments of facial attractiveness.
With regard to the cognitive task of age evaluation, visual age cues (more wrinkles and blemishes) were linked to older age perception.
However, odor pleasantness had a mixed effect.
Visual age cues strongly influenced age perception during pleasant odor stimulation, making older faces look older and younger faces look younger.
This effect was weakened in the presence of unpleasant odors, so that younger and older faces were perceived to be more similar in age.
Jean-Marc Dessirier, Lead Scientist at Unilever and a co-author on the study said, 'These findings have fascinating implications in terms of how pleasant smells may help enhance natural appearance within social settings.
'The next step will be to see if the findings extend to evaluation of male facial attractiveness.'
Certain Smells Can Trigger Migraine
For instance, onions are regarded as one of the most common causes of migraines but a recent study finds that it can also cure the condition. Approximately 15 percent of adults in the UK suffer from migraine. Symptoms of the disease include nausea and sensitivity to light and it is normally triggered by sudden changes in the natural chemicals found in the brain. The study confirmed that 75.9 percent of cases do not have identifiable triggers but some of the most common causes include stress, fluctuations in hormone, sudden change in weather, sleep disturbance, diet and flickering lights or images.
The study also claims that more than 50 percent of migraine sufferers are sensitive to a specific odor and this condition is known as osmophobia. The researchers found that women can be particularly sensitive, with approximately 70 percent who claim that smell is a trigger. One of the cases reported showed a 32-year old woman who found that raw onions and garlic caused a 'migraine aura'. The Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation confirmed that the patient experienced a crushing headache after an hour of being exposed to the smell.
Nose plugs and over the counter peppermints were given to the patient to relieve her from the pain brought about by migraine. The researchers confirmed that onions, as well as other smells, may induce changes in the emotions as the areas of the brain that govern both smell and emotion are closely linked. Dr. Nicholas Silver, consultant neurologist at the Walton Center for Neurology and Neurosurgery said: "We found that common odor triggers include perfumes, aerosols, car air fresheners, cooking smells, particularly those that are fried or fatty, as well as the smell of cigarettes."
sources:http://en.twwtn.com/Life/63_54880.html
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