Love is in the smell.

When it comes to sex it appears that lesbians follow their nose. A new study published in the May 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences scanned the brains of 12 lesbians as they smelled both a male-oriented and female-oriented substance. In each subject the female substance activated a part of the hypothalamus believed to be involved in sexual behavior.

Previous research investigating the existence of human pheromones has shown a similar olfactory response in straight men, while gay men have been shown to respond to male-oriented aromas, just as straight women seem to do.

But the response isn't aphrodisiacal, researchers said. None of the women reported sexual arousal.