Our research shows that a mixture of human pheromones influences women’s flirtatious behavior and self-reported level of attraction to a man during a 15-minute long videotaped interaction. We based our experimental design on aspects of biologically based behavior that are common across species from yeasts to other primates.
Our design has been criticized by researchers who challenge the very obvious generalizations that are due to very low biological variability across different species of organisms. These challenges persist even though it is widely known and generally accepted that in species that sexually reproduce olfactory/pheromonal input from the environment is more important to survival than is any other form of sensory input.
For those who are not experts, it makes better sense for me to say that — in common sense terms — the chemical senses are common to all animal species. In all species, something akin to the mammalian sense of smell is required for food selection and social selection. This is obvious. Proper food selection is required for survival of the species. So is social selection for interaction with members of the same species. Solitary mammals might find food, but they cannot sexually reproduce without a member of the same species.
Our experimental approach was to record and observe behaviors in women. We believe that these behaviors are conditioned to occur via association with olfactory/pheromonal input. Pheromones, for example, unequivocally changes levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) in other mammals, and they also change mood in women. The change in LH links the well-detailed neurophysiological mechanisms, which are responsible for behavioral affects in other mammals, to chemically-driven changes in women’s behavior.
James Vaughn Kohl was the first to accurately conceptualize human pheromones, and began presenting his findings to the scientific community in 1992. He continues to present to, and publish for, diverse scientific and lay audiences, while constantly monitoring the scientific presses for new information that is relevant to the development of his initial and ongoing conceptualization of human pheromones.
Recently, Kohl integrated scientific evidence that pinpoints the evolved neurophysiological mechanism that links olfactory/pheromonal input to genes in hormone-secreting cells of tissue in a specific area of the brain that is primarily involved in the sensory integration of olfactory and visual input, and in the development of human sexual preferences. His award-winning 2007 article/book chapter on multisensory integration: The Mind’s Eyes: Human pheromones, neuroscience, and male sexual preferences followed an award winning 2001 publication: Human pheromones: integrating neuroendocrinology and ethology, which was coauthored by disinguished researchers from Vienna. Rarely do researchers win awards in multiple disciplines, but Kohl’s 2001 award was for neuroscience, and his 2007 “Reiss Theory” award was for social science.
Kohl has worked as a medical laboratory scientist since 1974, and he has devoted more than twenty-five years to researching the relationship between the sense of smell and the development of human sexual preferences. Unlike many researchers who work with non-human subjects, medical laboratory scientists use the latest technology from many scientific disciplines to perform a variety of specialized diagnostic medical testing on people.
James V. Kohl is certified with:
* American Society for Clinical Pathology
* American Medical Technologists
James V. Kohl is a member of:
* Society for Neuroscience
* Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
* Association for Chemoreception Sciences
* Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality
* International Society for Human Ethology
* American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science
* Mensa, the international high IQ society
