Pacific Views

Gay Brain, Straight Brain

Strong indication of a physiological basis for sexual orientation:

WASHINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - A compound taken from male sweat stimulates the brains of gay men and straight women but not heterosexual men, raising the possibility that homosexual brains are different, researchers in Sweden reported on Monday.

It also strengthens the evidence that humans respond to pheromones -- compounds known to affect animal behavior, especially mating behavior, but whose role in human activity has been questioned. ...

Interesting that they didn't include lesbians in the study, seems like kind of a glaring omission. While the word gay is usually used in referring to men, that shouldn't mean that gay women get excluded from research about the biological basis for sexual orientation. Still, the finding is very intriguing.

Let's place bets on how long it takes until someone claims that a hypothalamic response to an odor that humans can't consciously detect is a learned lifestyle choice.

Update: On today's Imus in the Morning, it was speculated that a person's behavior might actually influence this, so I didn't have to wait even a full 24 hours to get my question answered. Also, Scorpio writes from the comments that a study including lesbians is being planned even now.

Posted by natasha at May 10, 2005 12:22 AM | GLBT | Technorati links |