Sexual Chemistry

anterior fornix erogenous zone, asexuality, blood flow, cheaters, cheating, chemistry, dynamic, female reproductive system, fertility, floral scent, human behavior, human sexuality, immune system, judy dutton, luke, orgasm, pumpkin pie, reproduction, scientist, sexual, sexual acts, sexual arousal, sexual chemistry, smell, spicy, women - By Better Sex on Monday, August 16, 2010 - 11:36

From the alluring smell of pumpkin pie to a vaccine for cheaters, scientists have turned up some useful as well as wacky tidbits about sexuality.

For her book, Secrets from the Sex Lab, author Judy Dutton gathered researchers’ findings on what’s going on chemically, biologically and neurologically.

Dutton, 37, spoke to the Star about scientific flirting, knee orgasms, and what to name — or not name — your baby.

Q: The biggest mystery is sexual chemistry. What is it?

Sexual chemistry is ruled by factors we have little control over or little awareness about. For example, the way someone smells can make or break how much chemistry you have. Someone may seem all wrong but the smell is right and you’re smitten and you don’t understand why. It has to do with the major histocompatibility complex, a sequence of genes involved in the immune system. If someone smells good, it indicates that your immune systems are compatible and you’ll have strong healthy offspring. This isn’t something we think about consciously. It’s going on under the surface.

Q: What particular smells are turn-ons?

Scientists actually hooked up measuring devices to people’s genitals to measure blood flow and then put different smells in front of them until they found winning combinations. An interesting day at work.

They found that men are attracted to the smell of pumpkin pie mixed with lavender. That smell increased genital blood flow by 40 percent. For women, the smell of cucumber mixed with the candy Good & Plenty increased vaginal blood flow by 14 percent.

They also found that a spicy floral scent made women appear about twelve pounds lighter to men.

Q: You say that even a person’s name may affect chemistry. Ben and Julie are hot. Luke and Anne are not. Why?

A researcher put pictures up on the website hotornot.com and then changed the names to see the effect. For men, names with a, e and i sounds, such as Matt or Mike, were rated as hot. For women, it was o and u sounds, like Lola or Judy. The sound of the vowels seem to make an impact on how attractive we find someone.

Q: Besides smearing yourself with pumpkin or cucumber, what other flirting tips does science offer?

For women, one technique is to schedule dates around when she’s ovulating. Studies show that men find women more attractive at that time than any other point in the month. We don’t know exactly why — smell, looks — but they’re more appealing.

For men, when they go out on the prowl, instead of bringing a wingman with them, they should bring a wingwoman, a female friend. The reason is what scientists call mate choice copying. Women are more attracted to men who are already receiving female attention. The thinking is that this guy has to have something that makes the other woman interested.

Q: You write about erogenous zones. But really, nose and knee orgasms?

A lot of people think it’s an urban legend, but scientists have documented them, even ear-gasms and eyebrow-gasms. Certain people are just wired that way. It’s not as if everyone can have a nose orgasm. I tried but didn’t get far.

If someone is highly aroused by traditional means, sometimes a little caress on a particular part of the body will do it. You never know until you’ve tried.

Q: A woman has an A spot and a U spot?

Yeah. The anterior fornix erogenous zone, or A spot, was discovered by a sexologist in Malaysia. It’s located a little deeper than the G spot. It can cause orgasm in under two minutes, according to a study. The U spot is extra sensitive tissue surrounding the urethral opening.

Q: You say that an MRI scan of your brain can reveal if you’re in love or in lust. How does that work?

It’s not widely available, yet. For a study, scientists put people in MRI machines and showed them photos of someone they were in love with and then random pictures of attractive people. When the subjects looked at the loved ones, certain areas of the brain lit up. When they saw the random attractive people, other areas lit up. It’s essentially looking into the brain to see if it’s true love. It’s better than a fortune teller.

Q: Can scientists predict who will cheat?

To a certain extent. First, there’s a genetic component. Scientists have found certain genes that make people more prone to cheating, but it’s not a done deal. I wouldn’t get my partner genetically tested and then toss him if he had the cheating gene. I’d just keep an eye on him.

Scientists developed a cheating vaccine that works on rodents. Meadow voles are extremely promiscuous. By injecting them with the vaccine they turned monogamous. A cheating vaccine for humans won’t be available any time soon. There are lots of moral quandaries.

Q: Can brain scans be used to detect cheaters?

There’s a company in California called No Lie MRI where you can bring your partner, but it’s expensive. While in the magnetic resonance imaging machine, the partner is shown a photo of the beloved and answers questions. From the scans, you can tell if the person is cheating by areas of the brain that light up. When a lie is involved, many areas of the brain are activated. Most who get the scan are faithful. Those who aren’t tend to run away or cave at the last minute. It’s very effective in ferreting out cheaters even before they get there.

Q: Will science ever answer all the secrets of sex?

It’s definitely answered a lot of things that make people anxious. That’s what I found so hopeful. For example, men worry about penis size but scientists have proven that it doesn’t matter. Women can stop stressing about how they look naked. Researchers found that men spend most of the time looking at the woman’s face. But there will always be more questions.

Q: In your research, what most surprised you?

I was definitely surprised to learn that in addition to heterosexuals, homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals, there’s another orientation: asexuals, who are attracted to no one. Scientists estimate that one in 100 people are asexuals. There’s a support group complete with t-shirts and catchy slogans, such as “A-Pride,” and “Asexuality is not just for amoebas anymore.” Perhaps one day they will have their own bars to avoid getting hassled.

Q: You mentioned you have an infant daughter. Did you give her a hot name?

Oh my God. I don’t think I even thought of it. Her name is Indiana. That’s not in the hot category, no “o” or “u” sounds. She’ll have that working against her. But maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe subconsciously I wanted to keep her home and out of trouble.