Women's fertility cues affect cooperative behavior: Evidence for the role of the human putative chemosignal estratetraenol

Human body odors have been shown to convey social signals of many kinds. In the animal kingdom, many mammalian species use odorous cues to communicate periods of reproduction readiness among females. Specifically, female body odor and other body secretions take on an attractive character around the ovulation period (Doty, 1986). In rodents for example, females' body odors are known to stimulate males' reproductive systems, causing an increase in males' testosterone levels (Brown& Macdonald, 1985).
Source: Psychoneuroendocrinology - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research