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Pheromones Point to Sexual Orientation
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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 The findings appear in the week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Savic's group also found that in contrast to the heterosexual women they studied, the lesbian women processed the AND pheromone by the olfactory network, not the anterior hypothalamus; when they smelled the EST pheromone, they partly shared activation of the anterior hypothalamus with the heterosexual men studied.
Larger populations need to be studied, Savic said. When asked if her research suggests that programs to change sexuality would not be effective, she said: "We have no proof, but I anticipate in the majority of people these programs will not work."
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Others debate the meaning of the new research.
"It certainly suggests biologic processes are at play," said Brian Mustanski, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "And they certainly could be intersecting with some sort of environmental effects."
The new research suggests that "female sexuality is quite different than male sexuality," he said.
The research suggests that "sexual preference is associated with the brain response," said Warren Throckmorton, an associate professor of psychology and fellow for psychology and public policy at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa. "Lesbian women don't show the same pattern of [brain] activation in response to the pheromones."
While he finds it interesting that different parts of the brain responded differently in the study, "how those differences get there this says nothing about," he added. Whether the women were born that way or learned the behavior, he said, is beyond the scope of this research.
More information
The Council for Responsible Genetics can tell you more about genes and sexual orientation (www.gene-watch.org ).
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Last updated 5/9/2006
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SOURCES: Ivanka Savic, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor, clinical neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden; Brian Mustanski, Ph.D., assistant professor, department of psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago; Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D., associate professor, psychology, Grove City College, Pa.; May 8-12, 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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