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Examples might include your stomach turning at the smell of spoiled food or the sight of feces.
The new study in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences investigates whether people who experience a greater pathogen disgust sensitivity that is, people who are more sensitive to feeling disgust will become exposed to fewer pathogens in their local environments, and thus suffer fewer infections, explains coauthor Theresa E. Gildner, assistant professor of biological anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis.
Exposure to pathogens
Researchers tested whether a self-reported individual level of disgust in response to likely sources of infection was associated with signs of infection in three Indigenous Ecuadorian Shuar communities. The communities were all located in high-pathogen environments, but with differing levels of economic development and participation in activities such as hunting.
Date Time
Researchers show how disgust evolved as an emotion
Next time a refrigerator door opens to the smell of rotting uncooked chicken, consider the moment as an odorous encounter with the origin of disgust. That repulsion is linked to an evolved human emotion that helps avoid exposure to something sickening.
In a project that blended anthropology, biology and psychology, a University of Oregon team explored disgust by studying how Ecuador’s indigenous Shuar people, living in communities with differing levels of market integration, respond to revolting things.
The research was detailed in a paper published online Feb. 23 ahead of print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Among Ecuador s Shuar, Oregon researchers find how disgust evolved as a human emotion eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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February 23, 2021 SHARE
The next time your stomach turns at the smell of spoiled food or the sight of feces, pay attention. New research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Feb. 15, suggests that disgust could be the body’s way of helping people avoid infection giving new meaning to the phrase “trust your gut.”
The study is the first in its field to directly test whether people who experience a greater pathogen disgust sensitivity that is, people who are more sensitive to feeling disgust will become exposed to fewer pathogens in their local environments, and thus suffer fewer infections, according to Theresa E. Gildner, assistant professor of biological anthropology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and study co-author.