Jena, September 04, 2026 – A major honor for Friedrich Schiller University Jena: Prof. Dr. Ilona Croy, along with an international research team, has been awarded the prestigious Ig Nobel Prize. The scientists investigated the perception of human body odor at different stages of development, providing surprising insights into the parent-child relationship.
- Event: Awarding of the Ig Nobel Prize to Prof. Dr. Ilona Croy (University of Jena) and co-authors
- Research Subject: Perception of the body odor of babies and adolescents by parents
- Key Finding: The “sweetness” of babies drives caregiving behavior, while the odor of adolescents is biologically assessed differently by parents
For her study, the neuroscientist surveyed more than 250 parents and examined their brain reactions using MRI. The results demonstrate that new parents instinctively perceive the scent of their newborns as extremely pleasant. This mechanism is part of the so-called “baby schema” and stimulates neural networks that strengthen caregiving behavior. The scent contributes to parents building an emotional bond with their offspring and recognizing them as their own, as emphasized by Dresden-based physician Thomas Hummel, who also participated in the study.
Biological Background: Why Adolescents Smell Different
However, this perception changes fundamentally with the onset of puberty. Parents are often suddenly unable to clearly identify the specific scent of their adolescent children or no longer prefer it. From an evolutionary perspective, this “scent shift” has a very practical and necessary reason: the interplay between genetic similarity and the newly emerging sex hormones signals natural incest prevention to the body. Nature thus ensures that genetically close relatives remain sexually unattractive to one another.
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Background on the Ig Nobel Prize
The Ig Nobel Prize (a humorous play on the Nobel Prize and the word “ignoble”) is awarded annually for scientific work that “makes people laugh, then think.” It aims to honor unusual research and strengthen public interest in science and research. Prof. Croy expressed her pleasure at the award, jokingly describing the prize as an honor specifically for “nerds” who, with humor and scientific rigor, open up new perspectives on human coexistence.
Transparency note: This article was created automatically, editorially reviewed, and expanded with AI assistance.