Well I first heard about “copulins” a pheramone released by females via vaginal secretions on oprah.
I’ve tried to find out more about it but all I can find are sites selling the “so-called” pheramones…they don’t look very legit.
Other then that I’ve found only Oprah’s website…and cnn article…linking to oprahs website. Nothing scientific at ALL…except somone claiming copulins have an effect. No one seems to explain the chemical makeup of it or how it works in the body.
We know how testosterone works in the body and what it acts on…but not these.
My searching brought me to this site…which seems to throw the term around as meaning something different than what the “scientist” on oprah referred to them.
I’m SUPER interested in all things that make women get turned on…and from I can gather from oprahs show copulins only effect men in this way, they don’t turn on women. Either way…I am trying to learn as much as possible Thanks for any help.
Now I do understand that in some regards some things are still in the early stages of research and we don’t 100% understand them, but I should be able to find more info than what I have.
Could someone help clear up the confusion? And maybe link to scientific studies that do more than simply state “copulins effect men”?
Copulins aren’t technically pheromones, but they do act subconciously like phero’s so most people still include cops when talking about phero’s. Phero’s are metabolites of hormones, whereas cops are, like you said, fatty acids normally found in vaginal secretions.
There have been plenty of studies on cops and their effects on men. Studies have shown that mens testosterone levels increase with up to 150% within just 10-15 minutes of being exposed to cops.
Here’s a few references of some of the more well known studies;
Juette A. Weibliche Pheromone - Wirkung und Rolle von synthetischen “Kopulinen” bei der versteckten Ovulation des Menschen. Diplomarbeit an der Universität Wien; 1995.
Michael RP, Bonsall RW, Warner P. Human vaginal secretions: Volatile fatty acid content. Science 1974; 186:1217-9.
Michael RP, Bonsall RW, Kutner M. Volatile fatty acids, “copulins”, in human vaginal secretions. Psychoneuroendocrinology 1975; 1:153-63.
I think this one covers cops too;
Human pheromones and sexual attraction. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Volume 118, Issue 2, Pages 135-142
K.Grammer, B.Fink, N.Neave
What causes copulins to be produced? Does a woman produce more copulins in some part of her fertility cycle? Or is it in response to actual sexual activity?
Copulins are produced at a certain point in a woman’s hormonal cycle. They indicate that she is biologically primed for the fertilisation of the ovum and the subsequent pregnancy.
Copulins are produced (in low levels) throughout a normal menstrual cycle, but levels are significantly higher around the time of ovulation. Some studies have also showed that women who are in relationships (i.e have sex on a regular basis) have higher levels of copulins produced, so in that sense yes…there is copulin production in response to sexual activity, but the main cause of copulin production is the hormones that regulate and induce ovulation.
Production decreases with age, and become virtually nil if on birth control (as the pill only mimics your natural cycle but no ovulation takes place).
The short answer is that copulins created by humans created sexual responses in rhesus monkeys. The article does not mention gender of the monkeys. But we do know that if you want to hook up with monkeys, get some copulins.
I am also curious about pheromones, and have my first order from androtics coming tomorrow. I tried pherlure once before (a product from a different company) and it didn’t work. But I think the theory that they would work is sound. It hasn’t been proven that the vomeronasal organ functions in human- this is the organ in the nose in many vertebrates that detects pheromones. However, as the article above points out, there’s a lot of evidence that humans in fact respond to pheromones. Add to that the fact that humans actually produce what have been proven to be pheromones in other animals, which are present in our bodily fluids; especially humans. I had an anatomy and physiology professor who was more of a research prof into snakes that believed that humans must respond to pheromones. He said in lab one day (completely off topic), that chemicals that are pheremones in other animals show up in humans about the time of puberty when secondary sexual characteristics like arm pit and genital hair show up. He said basically they start showing up at puberty- when we are fertile. He didn’t think this was coincidental.
But laboratory evidence definitively showing that pheremones will help you get laid arguably are not there. But that makes sense to me. Let’s say you got any number of women in a lab and asked them to smell things and tell you how turned on it made them. That kind of lab scene does not sound like a turn on, regardless of what you’re studying. I’ve decided that to determine whether they work or not, I’ll have to experiment in the real world, because we just don’t seek sexual partners in double-blind studies. So, get you’re $25 gift certificate, experiment, and see for yourself.
I recall reading about a recent study showing that women tend to select mates based on smell. (Not necessarily pheromones, but the smell of the guy overall). They tended to select mates most genetically different from themselves on that basis, but women on the Pill made the opposite selection and selected men most genetically similar to themselves. So smell is apparently a factor in mate selection.
My experimental design puts our accomplice (wearing a mixture of pheromones, or not) in a small room. Ovulatory phase women are told they will play a game with him and be rated (and subsequently are questioned) on aspects of cooperation during the menstrual cycle. The 15-minute interaction is videotaped with subsequent analysis of flirtatious behaviors. This is the closest real-world, double-blind study I can find in the literature. Your real world experience may vary, and of course it will yield only anecdotal evidence. That’s not to say that there is no data from real-world studies–as so many people seem to think.
I have read that “Copulins aren’t technically pheromones” in several places. Why not? If I rely on Wikipedia, it simply refers to pheromones as chemical signals. If they raise testosterone levels in males, copulins would certainly be “chemical signals”. Is their not being breakdown products of hormones the only thing that distinguishes them from real pheromones? Do copulins somehow work differently than actual-pheromone pheromones?
Copulins are volatile fatty acids from vaginal secretions The are mainly secreted during the oestrous phase of the menstrual cycle.
Phero’s on the other hand are traditionally described as metabolites of androgen steriod hormones.
Don’t rely on wiki… Wikipedia is a dirty word for scientists
I wouldn’t cite it in an academic paper, but it is a great place for a non-expert to begin asking questions. That’s because most of the technical entries are written by those same scientists who claim it’s a dirty word, when their colleagues side-step the peer review process and correct their entries.
There are problematic definitions involved. Copulins were described for monkeys who resumed copulatory behavior when estrogen deprived females were “painted” with the ovulatory phase chemical signals from estrogenized females. Obviously, we can’t expect to do this sort of thing to women and “cause” any predictable response in all men. So we can’t really call the copulins by the same name used for the solutions in primate studies–even though I have done so.
I have also tried to tell others that copulins are female pheromones, but even this label does not fit until a statistically significant change can be measured in the human male behavioral response. The increase in testosterone must be accompanied by a change in behavior to meet the definition of human female pheromones. Nevertheless, until marketers divulge the ingredients of what they are calling “copulins” most research is stalled (except for research by scientists who are familiar with the formula my friend Astrid Jutte used). She left the task of finding the change in behavior to others, after a dissappointing failure to replicate her findings.
On the bright side, researchers are somewhat convinced that the testosterone increase occurs (it’s common across species). And a few researchers who were allowed to sniff the sample solution Astrid used in her presentation could be expected to reproduce the mixture. Meanwhile, “everyone” seems to have a “copulin-containing” product–even when it is very likely that they know nothing about copulins. Look at the advertising. Where did their information come from: me? If so, unless they’re using the same mixture used in Scent of Eros /women, what are they using–and why aren’t they telling us their ingredients. The mixture is very specific in this regard.
Yes they are contained in the vaginal fluids. They are not derived from hormones though. They are a specific combination of lipids and fatty acids. Our hormones control the secretion but their are no hormones in copulins.
Women stop secreting them after menopause or if they are on the BP pill.
Thanks for any help.
