Posted on 05/09/2005 4:59:01 PM PDT by Scenic Sounds
WASHINGTON -- Scientists trying to sniff out biological differences between gay and straight men have found new evidence - in scent.
It turns out that sniffing a chemical from testosterone, the male sex hormone, causes a response in the sexual area of gay men's brains, just as it does in the brains of straight women, but not in the brains of straight men.
"It is one more piece of evidence ... that is showing that sexual orientation is not all learned," said Sandra Witelson, an expert on brain anatomy and sexual orientation at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.
Witelson, who was not part of the research team that conducted the study, said the findings show a biological involvement in sexual orientation.
The study, published in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was done by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
They exposed heterosexual men and women and homosexual men to chemicals derived from male and female sex hormones.
These chemicals are thought to be pheromones -- molecules known to trigger responses such as defense and sex in many animals.
Whether humans respond to pheromones has been debated, although in 2000 American researchers reported finding a gene that they believe directs a human pheromone receptor in the nose.
The Swedish study was one of a series looking at whether parts of the brain involved in reproduction differ in response to odors and pheromones, lead researcher Ivanka Savic said.
The brains of different groups responded similarly to ordinary odors such as lavender, but differed in their response to the chemicals thought to be pheromones, Savic said.
The Swedish researchers divided 36 subjects into three groups -- heterosexual men, heterosexual women and homosexual men. They studied the brain response to sniffing the chemicals, using PET scans. All the subjects were healthy, unmedicated, right-handed and HIV negative.
When they sniffed smells like cedar or lavender, all of the subjects' brains reacted only in the olfactory region that handles smells.
But when confronted by a chemical from testosterone, the male hormone, portions of the brains active in sexual activity were activated in straight women and in gay men, but not in straight men, the researchers found.
The response in gay men and straight women was concentrated in the hypothalamus with a maximum in the preoptic area that is active in hormonal and sensory responses necessary for sexual behavior, the researchers said.
And when estrogen, the female hormone was used, there was only a response in the olfactory portion of the brains of straight women. Homosexual men had their primary response also in the olfactory area, with a very small reaction in the hypothalamus, while heterosexual men responded strongly in the reproductive region of the brain.
Savic said the group is also doing a study involving homosexual women but those results are not yet complete.
In a separate study looking at people's response to the body odors of others, researchers in Philadelphia found sharp differences between gay and straight men and women.
"Our findings support the contention that gender preference has a biological component that is reflected in both the production of different body odors and in the perception of and response to body odors," said neuroscientist Charles Wysocki, who led the study.
In particular, he said, finding differences in body odors between gay and straight individuals indicates a physical difference.
It's hard to see how a simple choice to be gay or lesbian would influence the production of body odor, he said.
Wysocki's team at the Monell Chemical Senses Center studied the response of 82 heterosexual and homosexual men and heterosexual and homosexual women to the odors of underarm sweat collected from 24 donors of varied gender and sexual orientation.
They found that gay men differed from heterosexual men and women and from lesbian women, both in terms of which body odors gay men preferred and how their own body odors were regarded by the other groups.
Gay men preferred odors from gay men, while odors from gay men were the least preferred by heterosexual men and women and by lesbian women in the study. Their findings, released Monday, are to be published in the journal Psychological Science in September.
The Swedish research was funded by the Swedish Medical Research Council, the Karolinska Institute and the Magnus Bergvall Foundation. Wysocki's research was supported by the Monell Center.
Notice that Witelson is NOT one of the researchers. This was a person hand-picked by the journalist to interpret the findings in the way the journalist wanted it to be interpreted. The researchers DO NOT claim that homosexuality has a biological cause. This is a biased article, putting words in the mouth of the researchers. Notice they don't quote the actual researchers until far later in the article, and when the researcher seems to imply homosexuality has a biological basis, he is paraphrased and not quoted.
Yes, I did use the 'strawman' term incorrectly. However, the rest of your comments aren't as accurate. I'm not sure if bait-and-switch, or smoke-and-mirrors is the more appropriate choice.
If you aren't pushing a genetic basis, then there is no reason to bring Downs syndrome into the argument. Whether you consider it direct genetic link to homosexual behavior, or a genetic link to a predisposition to genetic behavior, it's still a genetic basis.
There was a Minnesota study on twins raised separately, that showed dramatic similarities on career choice and other behavior, including the names of spouses. Since homosexuality doesn't match the same high correlation levels, it suggests a lesser role for genetics in homosexuality.
The article I referenced notes that there is a low (20%) correlation between identical twins & gayness. The footnote is: Bailey, J.M., M.P.Dunne, and N.G. Martin, Genetic and environmental influences on sexual orientation and its correlates in an Australian twin sample, J Pers. Soc. Psychol. (in press 2000).
nope. How long did you resist before giving in?
Morality and all of its associated concepts are from the belief some higher power defines what is correct in human behavior. Today, morals are a religious pagan philosophy of esoteric hobgoblins. Transfiguration is a pantheon of fantasies as the medium of infinitization. Others get derision for having an unwavering Judaic belief in Yahweh or Yeshua, although their critics and enemies will evangelize insertion of phantasmagoric fetishisms into secular law.
There are three ways people are influenced according to the school of behavioral psychology - - visual (sight), auditory (sound), kinesthetic (emotion). The kinesthetic or ‘feeling’ is also olfactory and tactile sense, just like Pavlov’s salivating dogs (conditioned responses).
Considering that 90% of people tend to be more influenced by the visual, television has become a new religion. It is analogous to Plato’s cave allegory and the pagan Oracle of Delphi. The visual media as a propaganda tool helps create visual phantasms or fantastical images in the brain.
Was Freudian psychoanalytic theory of sexual stages in psychological development more accurate than accredited? The Michael Jackson Complex is fixation on mutilation of and deviance with human anatomy in the media. It is a social psychosis catering to the lowest common denominator and generated with Pavlovian behavioral conditioning in popular culture.
Visual images and sound portrayed can be used to anchor emotional and/or conditioned responses desired by those that present them, which is the case of the visual media, actors who create fantastical images in film, and Leftist politicians who pander to ‘symbolism over substance.’
Observe when in public places, at your workplace or in other community activities (i.e., restaurants, retail stores, gas stations, etc.) the pervasive presence of some exposure to music or television. This is because many people are actually terrified of being alone with their own thoughts or at the prospect of it (neuro-linguistic programming).
Unsex me here!Who is he that is not of woman borne?
Surely, the angel they must serve would have told them that they were borne of woman.
Divinity of Hell!
When devils will the blackest of sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows, as they do now.
They are of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are.
All the world is a stage for such villainous parody from these that have so slender a claim to be admitted to the table of the Saints.
Unsex me here!Who is he that is not of woman borne?
Surely, the angel they must serve would have told them that they were borne of woman.
Divinity of Hell!
When devils will the blackest of sins put on, they do suggest at first with heavenly shows, as they do now.
They are of a free and open nature, that thinks men honest that but seem to be so, and will as tenderly be led by the nose as asses are.
All the world is a stage for such villainous parody from these that have so slender a claim to be admitted to the table of the Saints.
Good call.
You're right. Looks like another case of activist journalism at work here. And, in all seriousness, you now have to really question the background of the author of this article. Doe he himself practice homosexuality and wish to propagate its acceptance or actual practice?
Ignoring the fact that homosexuality happens "learned" in prison is a bit myopic wouldn't you think? Explain so called "bisexuality" then. Or are you just another vapid pro-sodomy cheerleader without any facts?
Exactly, this proves nothing about nature vs. nuture. The idea that sexual behavior is completely hard-wired from birth is really crazy. You just have to look at some of the really strange fetishes that people develop to realize that sexual desires are conditioned.
And try to explain things like leather or rubber fetishes. Clearly, have such a strong positive reinforcement mechanism as sex provides a tool to condition your thinking and develop sexual desires.
Homosexuality being the paraphilic disorder that it is generally comes with other paraphilias.
You often see homosexuality coupled with S&M, transvesticism, gender identity disorder and of course pedophilia.
I can not see how any objective scientist can look at the data and not see a significant role for nature and nurture. You can debate which has the larger effect, but clearly sexual preferences is not determined solely by genetics. Unfortunately, we have a generation of doctors that are being taught precisely that.
easy there. I just asked a question because of the jail question. I never been to jail, that's why.
Much appreciated. Great info.
Thanks.
Utter and total manure.
This has been covered on two other posts.
There is nothing provactive about this other than for homosexual advocats to push their sypmpathy "born so not our fault" agenda.
There is NOTHING credible about this study or the findings.
The fact that any news agency reported this only shows how irrelevent their newsdesk is. They might as well report Hitlary clinton met with space aliens to discuss her 2008 presidential bid as serious news.
This study is garbarge whose sole purpose is to gete homosexuals doing the study more grant money.
Sorry, the text is somewhere in my house, but I'm not going to dig it out. I can tell you that it was written by one of my professors and he was pretty respected. His pursuit was interested in only where scientific evidence led. A real scientist, long gone.
Think about cancer, we think of it as one disease, but its really many. Or alcoholism. Is it a disease with a genetic component? No question. Is it a moral condition that can be avoided by choice? Also a proven.
While I don't want homosexual's pushing their lifestyle and advancing their agenda and for some I think it is an immoral 'choice', I am open to science identifying those people that have a physical (gene) reason for it. Love the sinner, hate the sin, know the Truth.
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