摘要：
捷克科学家的一项最新研究成果显示，女人身体散发出来的味道会在一个月中的某些时候对男人具有更为强大的吸引力。
The scent of a woman is more attractive at certain times of the month, suggests a new study that had men sniffing women's armpit odor.

捷克科学家的一项最新研究成果显示，女人身体散发出来的味道会在一个月中的某些时候对男人具有更为强大的吸引力。

据"生活科学网"日前报道，捷克首都布拉格查尔斯大学的人类学专家扬·哈夫利切克是这项研究的参与者之一，他说："我们对女性的体味是否会在月经周期中发生改变这个问题很感兴趣。为了得到答案，我们让一组女士在她们的腋窝里放置了棉垫，这一过程持续了24个小时。"

参与研究的女性不能擦香水、使用除味剂、吃辛辣或者有强烈味道的东西，同时她们也不能抽烟、饮酒或服用口服避孕药丸等激素类避孕药物。而采集体味则是在下面3个时期内进行的：月经期（月经开始时）；卵泡期（来月经第一天至排卵开始之间）和黄体期（已排卵，黄体逐渐形成）。

在完成体味采集之后，这些棉垫会交予42名男士。这些男士会对棉垫的吸引力大小和味道强度做评判。而据这些男士表示，对他们来说最具吸引力的味道来自于上述第2个阶段，即从月经第1天至排卵开始之间的这段时期。

以典型的28天为一个月经周期来说，月经周期包含了发生在女性身上为怀孕做准备的众多生理变化。

一个完整的周期从月经第一天开始，被分为4部分（月经期、卵泡期、排卵期和黄体期）。在卵泡期（follicular phase）内，一个占优势的卵泡（就像一个装着卵子的大口袋）准备好将要排卵。随后，一个成熟的卵子会在被称为"排卵期"的阶段释放出来。而整个周期会以黄体期为结束。

哈夫利切克和他的同事发现，女性在处于卵泡期时，身上散发出来的体味最淡，但也最让人着迷。而另一方面，女人体味最强的时候，相应地也是对男性吸引力最差的时候。而这正好处于月经出血时期。对此，哈夫利切克说："人们通常认为，人类妇女的排卵作用是很隐蔽的；同时，女性对男性的吸引力也不会在月经周期的不同阶段里有什么变化。"而此项研究结果证实，事实并非如此。

接下来，研究人员希望找到究竟是哪种化学物质在从中起作用。

报道说，由其它研究小组进行的另外两项研究也得到了类似的结论。但哈夫利切克表示，那些从T恤衫上取得气味样本的研究"让人们难以查明气味的真正来源"，而他们所进行的研究则限制只在人的腋窝处提取气味样本。

除此之外，哈夫利切克的研究小组还得出了另外一个关于女性吸引力的结论，即女性脸部的吸引力也会在每个月里发生变化。研究人员发现，女性处于卵泡期时的面部图象和处于黄体期或可生育期时的面部图象相比，前者也被认为更具吸引力。

报道说，这一研究结果被发表在1月份的美国行为科学研究杂志《动物行为学》上。

（国际在线独家资讯 王高山）

本稿件为国际在线专稿，媒体转载请注明稿件来源和译者姓名。

The scent of a woman is more attractive at certain times of the month, suggests a new study that had men sniffing women's armpit odor.

"We were interested whether armpit odor changes across menstrual cycle," said study author Jan Havlieek of the Department of Anthropology at Charles University, Prague. "To test this, we asked a group of women to wear cotton pads in their armpits for 24 hours."

The women didn't wear perfumes, use deodorants, eat spicy or smelly foods, smoke, drink alcohol or use hormonal contraceptives such as the pill. Body odor was collected during three phases: menstrual (at the beginning); follicular (between the first day of menstruation and the onset of ovulation); and luteal (the fertile stage).

"The fresh pads were subsequently rated for their attractiveness and intensity by a group of 42 men," Havlieek told LiveScience.

The most attractive smells, men said, were from the time between the first day of menstruation and ovulation.

The typically 28-day menstrual cycle involves the physiological changes that occur in a woman to prepare for a possibility of pregnancy. It is controlled by the reproductive hormone system.

A cycle is divided into four parts and starts on the first day of menstruation, which is the shedding of tissue and blood from the womb. In the follicular phase, a dominant ovarian follicle-which is a sack that contains the ova, or egg-grows, becoming ready to ovulate. The mature egg is then released in the phase known as ovulation around day 12. The cycle ends with the fertile phase.

Although many men would tell you they're always in the mood, Havlieek and colleagues discovered that men find odors during the follicular phase the most attractive and least intense. On the other hand, the highest intensity smells, corresponding to the lowest attractiveness for men, were found during the time of menstrual bleeding.

"Traditionally it's believed that ovulation in human female is concealed and there are no changes in attractiveness across the cycle," Havlieek said.

The study is detailed in the January issue of the journal Ethology.

Two other studies by different research teams came to similar conclusions. But those investigationsused T-shirts for odor sampling, "making it difficult to pinpoint the source of the smell," said Havlieek, whose team restricted sampling to armpits only.

Finally, the attractiveness of women's faces also changes during the month.

Havlieek's team found that facial images of women in the follicular phase-when the dominant ovarian follicle is getting ready to ovulate-are considered more attractive as compared to images taken in the luteal or fertile phase of the cycle.

The researchers hope to find out which chemical compounds are responsible for the odor changes across a woman's menstrual cycle.

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