Sexual Orientation And The Brain
Researchers have found that when gay men smell a chemical from testosterone, a reaction occurs in the region of the brain that controls sexual urges. A similar kind of reaction also occurs in heterosexual women, but the reaction is not seen in heterosexual men. |
From the findings of this research, researchers have concluded that sexual orientation is not a learned behavior. Rather there is a biological connection to a person's sexual orientation.
The research was conducted by the Karolinska Instituted located in Stockholm, Sweden. For the experiment, heterosexual male and female participants as well as homosexual men where exposed to chemicals formed from the sex hormones of men and women. It is believed that these chemicals were pheromones. In addition, the participants were also made to smell other odors like lavender and cedar.
Through PET scans, the researchers found that general smells like lavender and cedar evoke the same kind of response in the brain in all the three groups, namely heterosexual men, heterosexual women and homosexual men. This response was seen in the part of the brain that controls smell. However, when the participants were made to smell a chemical formed from testosterone, the brain that controls sex and sexual urges was stimulated and heterosexual women and homosexual men had similar response, while no response was seen in heterosexual men.
The same participants were also exposed to estrogen and it was found that the part of the brain that controls smell was stimulated in heterosexual women. Similar reaction was seen in homosexual men, but a strong reaction was recorded in the part of the brain that controls sex and sexual urges in heterosexual men.
More Articles :
|
When you look at sexual orientation and gender identification, a lot of people tend to confuse the two as they think that they are one and the same. However, there is a difference between the two. In order to understand sexual orientation and gender identification, one first has to understand that what is gender.