But pleasure can also be detected in the breath, as a study by an international team now shows. Accordingly, a characteristic signature of volatile molecules can be found in the breath of sexually aroused people. The test subjects exhaled less isoprene and carbon dioxide, but the concentration of breakdown products of certain neurotransmitters increased. According to the researchers, this discovery can help better assess sexual dysfunction.
The task was incredibly simple: Twelve men and twelve women were asked to watch various ten-minute film clips in random order in the Research Laboratory on Human Sexuality, or SexLab for short, at the University of Porto:
- a nature travel documentary,
- a horror film,
- a football game and
- an erotic film.
Meanwhile, the Max Planck team continuously analyzed the test subjects' breath for over a hundred volatile organic compounds. At the same time, SexLab researchers measured the test subjects' sexual arousal by detecting an increase in temperature on the genitals.
A chemical trace of the happiness hormone
With the start of the erotic film, the amount of various volatile organic compounds in the breath of the aroused participants increased rapidly, while other compounds decreased rapidly. In addition, the values fluctuated less than in the unexcited state.
“The fact that the concentration of CO2 and isoprene in the breath fell could be because the genitals had more blood flow, whereas the muscles and lungs had less blood flow . and “In men we found phenol, cresol and indole. These seem to be typical indicators of sexual arousal.”
Nijing Wang, first author of the recently published study
The substances are created when the amino acids tryptophan, a precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin, and tyrosine, from which our body produces dopamine and norepinephrine, are broken down. It is known that these messenger substances play an important role in erotic feelings and are formed quickly. When sexually excited, they bring people, among other things, to a euphoric state of mind. In one test subject, the scientists were even able to detect dopamine, which is also considered a happiness hormone, directly in the breath.
“In general, the results of the breath analysis were clearer for men than for women”
Giovanni Pugliese, postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
The researchers did not observe the same increase in volatile substances in women as in men. In addition, some women were not particularly aroused by the erotic films.
“In order to increase the overall significance, we would like to repeat the study with a larger number of test subjects”
Giovanni Pugliese
Help in assessing sexual dysfunction
Investigating the signature of eroticism in breath in more detail is worthwhile, not least from a medical perspective: “ The possibility of non-invasively determining a person's sexual arousal through their breathing would bring great progress in sexual studies ,” says Pedro Nobre, scientist at the University of Porto in Portugal. So far, such studies have been made more difficult by the fact that sensors have to be attached directly to the genital area of the test subjects. According to Nobre, an experienced sex researcher, breath analysis can facilitate the assessment of sexual arousal and help evaluate sexual dysfunction.
The idea for the study came from Mainz atmospheric researcher Jonathan Williams. His team has already shown in previous studies that people constantly release chemical signals into the air through their breath and skin, which can change depending on their emotional state. In a crowded cinema, they detected characteristic volatile molecules that viewers emitted during very exciting scenes.
“ With the sexual arousal study, we wanted to test whether other strong emotions also leave a trace on breath ” and “To better characterize the chemical signals, we tested this under controlled conditions and not under the complex conditions of a cinema.”
Atmospheric scientist Jonathan Williams
The subject of further studies for the Max Planck researchers will now be the question of the extent to which we also send fleeting chemical signals during a conversation, when kissing or hugging, and to what extent our counterparts perceive them - consciously or unconsciously. The study was carried out as part of the European Commission's Horizon 2020 project IMPACT. It was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto. Consent was obtained from all subjects before the study.
Original publication:
Breath chemical markers of sexual arousal in humans
Wang, N., Pugliese, G., Carrito, M. et al.
Sci Rep 12, 6267 (2022)
doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10325-6
Additional Information:
https://www.mpic.de/5196428/heisser-atem?c=3477744 Website Max Planck Institute for Chemistry
Source: German health portal
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