Read it and cry.
Men are less aggressive after smelling women’s tears, according to the findings of a study published Thursday in PLOS Biology.
The research, conducted by Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science, found that human tears contain a chemical signal that reduces activity in two brain regions linked to aggression.
When researchers sought volunteers for the study, most women raised their hands “because it’s much more socially acceptable for them to cry,” said Ph.D. student Shani Agron, who led the work, said in a statement.
However, the researchers hypothesized that tears do not need to come from a woman to have a similar effect.
Men are less aggressive after smelling women’s tears, according to the results of a study published in PLOS Biology. fake images
Previous studies with rodents found that female tears reduce fighting among male mice, and male mole rats smear themselves with their own tears to avoid being attacked by alpha mice, the Weizmann Institute noted.
Scientists said other research also shows that smelling tears reduces testosterone.
“Given previous findings showing lower testosterone levels in men after sniffing tears and findings in rodents showing that tears reduce aggression, we hypothesized that tears would act the same way in humans; However, we were surprised by the magnitude of the effect in the laboratory,” Agron told Newsweek.
After collecting tears from six volunteers who watched sad movies, the researchers exposed dozens of men to tears or a saline liquid.
They could not distinguish between the substances since both are transparent and odorless.
The men then played a computer game, used in other aggression studies, in which players collected money that their opponent was trying to steal from them.
Players can take revenge and make their opponent lose money, although they would not win more money.
Scientists believe that the composition of tears evolved to protect babies from harm. Getty Images/iStockphoto
After smelling women’s tears, men’s desire for revenge fell by 43.7%.
These results are similar to the findings from the rodent study, but unlike rodents, humans do not have a structure in the nose that detects odorless chemical signals.
The researchers dug deeper by studying 62 olfactory receptors, which play a key role in the sense of smell, and found that four were activated by tears, but not saline.
They also hooked up study participants to MRI machines and observed that after smelling tears, areas of the brain related to aggression (the prefrontal cortex and anterior insula) were less active.
Scientists believe the substance in tears may have evolved to protect babies from harm.
“Babies can’t say, ‘Stop being aggressive with me.’ They have a very limited ability to communicate and are also helpless. “They have a strong interest in reducing aggression and that reflects the sad reality of aggression towards babies,” Noam Sobel, Weizmann professor of neurobiology, told The Guardian.
After smelling the women’s tears, the male volunteers’ desire for revenge fell by 43.7%. fake images
Dr Minna Lyons, a psychologist at Liverpool John Moores University, told The Guardian that the findings are “remarkable” but people should not draw any significant conclusions.
“In real life, things can be different. The tears of the victim of domestic violence may do little to reduce the aggression of the perpetrator. Why doesn’t chemosignaling work in these circumstances? she said.
“The social context of crying is enormously complicated, and I suspect that reducing aggression is just one of many potential functions of tears,” Lyons added.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn