Histocompatibility
An instinctive urge for women to seek a mate who has an immune system different from her own in order to have children with the best of both.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-histocompatibility.htm

Haplotype
A bunch of genes together in your DNA make a haplotype. A genetic trait that causes you to have some genetic trait, from blue eyes, to 12 toes, to an immune response that women can smell, unbeknownst to them.

How they relate to pheromones.Histocompatibility is sensed by women thru smell. Or inhaled chemosensory signals that are determined not thru smell, but possibly the VNO or other physiological processes. So like pheromones, they can override logic and to a degree give those females a sort of "BEER GOGGLES" drawing them toward a mate who has different Immune Haplotypes than herself, for the betterment of the offspring. And nobody does it conciously, it is a below concious input to the decision making process.

Using birth control has been shown to overpower the inborn Histocompatibility and temporarily change the selection direction while the synthetic hormones are in the system.

Pheromones my do the same thing, possibly attracting women/men that would otherwise not feel the "chemistry".

Is there a chance that once the pheromone effect wears off, the histocompatibility will revert and the "chemistry" will be GONE?

(10-04-2012 2:43 PM)dexter Wrote:  Histocompatibility
Is there a chance that once the pheromone effect wears off, the histocompatibility will revert and the "chemistry" will be GONE?

I always have known this to be true in layman's terms, very interesting to see it confirmed elsewhere.

I was once with a women that claimed that she could tell that we are biologically suited to each other while I was using pheromones. She could sense it.

There was a time later where she wanted me to stop using pheromones. So I did. While she did still care for me, she had some levels of instability that became more prevalent.

I still think that someone builds a mental image of you and becomes accustom to that, even if the pheromone signature changes.

This came up once on a thread earlier - Meri had some stuff on it ...but I agree with this...

(10-04-2012 2:43 PM)dexter Wrote:  Using birth control has been shown to overpower the inborn Histocompatibility and temporarily change the selection direction while the synthetic hormones are in the system.

:snip:

Is there a chance that once the pheromone effect wears off, the histocompatibility will revert and the "chemistry" will be GONE?

From what I read, oral birth control works by making the body think it is already pregnant. There's the hypothesis that when a woman is pregnant, she will try to be around men who have more similar MHC, family members etc, because they are more likely to protect her during pregnancy.

There may or may not be a real connection between MHC and attraction, even if there is a statistical correlation it may be something else a woman is smelling that makes her attracted, and that something may be statistically correlated to MHC.

That makes me contemplate the possibility that some pheromones do not attract by virtue of being the "correct" smell, but attract by virtue of smelling different or unique.

(10-19-2012 1:15 PM)veramis Wrote:  There may or may not be a real connection between MHC and attraction, even if there is a statistical correlation it may be something else a woman is smelling that makes her attracted, and that something may be statistically correlated to MHC.

That makes me contemplate the possibility that some pheromones do not attract by virtue of being the "correct" smell, but attract by virtue of smelling different or unique.

I don't think MHC is a chemical, but a group of chemicals excreted that give a signature of a person (in other words 'mones). It is a natural mix.

And different girls are attracted to different guys. I don't know how many different MHC signatures, or groups of signatures, there can naturally be.

So if you walk into a group of people and you have a strong signature (meaning you haven't washed it all off with a shower) you just have to walk around till you get picked up by the person who likes your MHC. You have chemistry or natural attraction or MHC's that complement.

But if your MHC is synthetic (applied 'mones) and washes off with a shower, the MHC portion of the attraction may disappear, and she dumps you for your best friend. Or...she starts using 'mones and you dump her (I don't think MHC works this way, I think it is girls seeking guys, not guys seeking girls by MHC). Or her Internal MHC changes when she changes her internal hormone structure by:
1) PMS
2) Pregancy
3) going from No BCP -> BCP Steroid use
4) going from BCP Steroid use -> No BCP
5) changing from BCP1 Steroids to BCP2 Steroids
6) other internal hormone altering medication

Have you ever noticed that your wife just doesn't like you as much during the hormone changes associated with PMS?
You probably have. But how much of it is MHC and how much is just irritability from change. Is your man scent just the wrong one during PMS, as a different MHC signature is attractive at different phases of the moon.

And how do you nail down Androstadienone as the sauce that works for that phase of the moon.

What about changing ur pheromone signature often? Would that confuse our partner? Make them not trust us? Or interfere with the bonding/connection? ...Isn't better to just hit them with the same signature always?..Just like in nature?

(10-23-2012 5:44 PM)dexter Wrote:  I don't think MHC is a chemical, but a group of chemicals excreted that give a signature of a person (in other words 'mones). It is a natural mix.

I feel that the MHC associated chemicals are different than mones as we use them. Mones are like fingers. MHC is like a fingerprint. Everyone can make androstenone. But MHC related chemicals are more distinctive.

The MHC is a component of a person's immune system. The best theory I've heard is that people with different MHCs will bind different volatiles from the blood. Since the MHC itself is far too heavy to fly, these volatiles are separated from the MHC and put into sweat. The result is a unique scent.

Also, for an opposite view, google "Genetic Sexual Attraction." It's about people who grew up separately and thus didn't have the natural sexual aversion of people who grew up together. Couple this with the fact that fourth cousins have the largest number of children, more than people who are more or less related...

Considering that children of highly unrelated couples can cause immunological problems for the mother, it seems reasonable that there might be some counterbalance to the whole "preferring a dissimilar MHC" thing.

Quote:Histocompatibility
Haplotype
How they relate to pheromones.

This was all covered in the Discovery Channel Documentary called The Science of Sex Appeal. They also mention that through smell we can determine who is a "family member" supposedly to prevent incest, which I thought was very interesting.

Obviously the MHC inhibitions don't work as well in the south....

(10-27-2012 11:03 AM)2Soon2Care Wrote:  Obviously the MHC inhibitions don't work as well in the south....

Lol. If everyone

Though frankly I'm a little surprised that more frequent bathing doesn't encourage incest to some slight extent since it'd reduce smell.

On the other hand, if you live in a small town where everyone is a part of the family to some extent, dating your second cousin may just be the best you can do under the circumstances. In that situation, I guess you could say that incest is a relative thing. *cue rimshot*