Women May Be Sniffing Out Biologically-relevant Information From Underarm Sweat

It may be wise to trust the female nose when it comes to body odor. According to new research from the Monell Center, it is more difficult to mask underarm odor when women are doing the smelling.

"It is quite difficult to block a woman's awareness of body odor. In contrast, it seems rather easy to do so in men," said study lead author Charles J. Wysocki, PhD, a behavioral neuroscientist at Monell.

The researchers speculate that females are more attuned to biologically relevant information in sweat that may guide women when choosing a mate.

In the study, women and men rated the strength of underarm odors, both alone and in conjunction with various fragrances.

The fragrances were selected to test their ability to block underarm odor through a method known as cross-adaptation. Olfactory adaptation refers to the loss of sensitivity to an odor when one is constantly exposed to that odor.