reply: Pheromones and regulation of ovulation

Abstract

We first reported menstrual synchrony almost three decades ago, and it has since been verified repeatedly. But synchrony does not always occur, and the circumstances in which it does not occur tell us a great deal about the social and physical conditions required^1,2. Menstrual synchrony is but one manifestation of a more fundamental mechanism, the chemosensory regulation of ovulation, which occurs in other species not only as synchrony, but also as asynchrony, extreme cycle regularity, changes in the timing of puberty, birth cycles and reproductive ageing^1,2.