A study has found that men sniffing women’s tears can help to cut aggressive behaviour after Shani Agron, a PHD student from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, said they contain a chemical signal
The liquid contains chemicals that quietens down the brain activity linked to anger.
Shani Agron, a PHD student from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, said: “We found that just like in mice, human tears contain a chemical signal that blocks conspecific male aggression.
“This goes against the notion that emotional tears are uniquely human.
“Finding this link between tears, brain activity, and aggressive behaviour implies that social chemosignalling is a factor in human aggression, not simply an animal curiosity.
”It has long been known that male aggression in rodents is reduced when they smell a female’s tears.
The test using an MRI showed a reduction in aggression by looking at brain activity.
Boffins tested the theory by getting men to play a game that would make them aggressive against their opponent.
When they sniffed women’s tears, an MRI scan showed their brain activity meant they were behaving a lot less aggressively.
Revenge-seeking aggressive behaviour during the game dropped more than 40%.
