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Human tears contain a chemosignal.

Shani Gelstein1, Yaara Yeshurun, Liron Rozenkrantz

  • 1Department of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
|January 8, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Human tears from emotional crying act as chemosignals, reducing men's sexual arousal and perceived sexual appeal in women's faces. This suggests a role for tears in modulating social and sexual behavior.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Human behavior

Background:

  • Emotional tearing is a uniquely human behavior.
  • Tears in mice function as chemosignals.
  • The chemosignaling function of human tears is poorly understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the potential chemosignaling function of human tears.
  • To determine if human tears influence sexual appeal and arousal in men.

Main Methods:

  • Collection of odorless tears from women experiencing negative emotions.
  • Men participants evaluated women's faces for sexual appeal after sniffing tears.
  • Men provided self-rated arousal, physiological arousal measures, and testosterone levels.
  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to assess brain activity.

Main Results:

  • Sniffing women's tears reduced men's attribution of sexual appeal to women's faces.
  • Tear exposure led to reduced self-rated sexual arousal, physiological arousal, and testosterone levels in men.
  • fMRI showed reduced activity in brain regions associated with sexual arousal after tear exposure.

Conclusions:

  • Human emotional tears possess chemosignaling properties.
  • These tears can reduce sexual arousal and perceived sexual appeal in men.
  • Tears may play a role in modulating human social and sexual interactions.