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Soriak
Toomuchtimeonhands
Joined: 11 Oct 2002
Posts: 952
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 Posted: 05/13/05 - 19:56 Post subject: Brain of gay men different from straight men?
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By saying "different" I am neither stating, nor implying, that it is better or worse, nor that it may (or may not) be a sickness, curable or otherwise.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/05/09/pheromones.study.reut/index.html
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WASHINGTON (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.
The pheromone in question is a derivative of testosterone called 4,16-androstadien-3-one, or AND.
"AND is detected primarily in male sweat," the researchers write in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In a previous study, Ivanka Savic of Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm and colleagues found that the hypothalamus region of the brain became activated when women smelled AND and when men smelled a corresponding compound in female urine called EST.
This time they compared the reactions of 12 women, 12 heterosexual men and 12 homosexual men.
They let them smell EST, AND, and ordinary odors such as lavender, and used positron emission tomography to watch their brain responses.
"In contrast to heterosexual men, and in congruence with heterosexual women, homosexual men displayed hypothalamic activation in response to AND," Savic's team wrote.
And a region of the brain called the anterior hypothalamus responded most strongly -- an area that in animals "is highly involved in **** behavior".
But other smells were processed the same in all three groups.
"These findings show that our brain reacts differently to the two putative pheromones compared with common odors, and suggest a link between **** orientation and hypothalamic neuronal processes," Savic's team wrote.
In most animals, pheromone signals go to the hypothalamus region of the brain via a pit-like structure in or near the nose called the vomeronasal organ.
People have a vomeronasal pit but there are no nerves connecting it to the brain, leading biologists to question whether humans respond to pheromones.
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Docter
RealPoor Guru
Joined: 21 Oct 2002
Posts: 3420
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Posted: 05/13/05 - 20:08 Post subject:
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Well, they do have more fashion sense then us straight men. LOL
I mean come on, I wear plaids with stripes all the time. 
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Occulis
RealPoor Jedi
Joined: 11 Oct 2002
Posts: 13293
Location: Moral Relativity Central
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Posted: 05/13/05 - 20:52 Post subject:
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If brain controls likes/dislikes then why wouldn\'t brains be different? :/ jeeez
Posted from a mobile device
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Scrabler
RealPoor Guru
Joined: 11 Oct 2002
Posts: 2660
Location: Mobile, AL
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Posted: 05/13/05 - 21:24 Post subject:
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motherface
RealPoor Guru
Joined: 12 Mar 2003
Posts: 3407
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Posted: 05/13/05 - 22:22 Post subject:
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| Scrabler wrote: | |
Appropriate reading for someone from the South.
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Lumberg_fekdher
RealPoor Sensei
Joined: 26 Aug 2003
Posts: 1923
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Posted: 05/14/05 - 03:01 Post subject:
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Hey now!
Posted from a mobile device
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ATM Banana
RealPoor Master of Posts
Joined: 02 Jan 2003
Posts: 8575
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Posted: 05/14/05 - 06:00 Post subject:
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I think its more of a matter that gay men know what male sweat smells like, and so fo women, straight men would respond the same if they decided to start seeking men, but since that would essentially make them "gay" then we cannot compare.
how ironic.
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IceIsFun
Toomuchtimeonhands
Joined: 11 Oct 2002
Posts: 781
Location: Orlando, FL
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Posted: 05/14/05 - 10:20 Post subject:
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| ATM Banana wrote: | I think its more of a matter that gay men know what male sweat smells like, and so fo women, straight men would respond the same if they decided to start seeking men, but since that would essentially make them "gay" then we cannot compare.
how ironic. |
That'd be my guess as well.
I'd surmise that rather than "gay" brains being different from birth, they've just associated the pheremones in male sweat with erotic memories... just as straight women do. Therefore, being exposed to those pheremones triggers those erotic memories (which in their case is with another man), thus causing similar brain activity. I think you'd find the brains of straight men are similarly activated by scents associated with their hetero-erotic memories (some specific perfume, etc). Hell, I know whenever I smell a woman wearing Tresor or that Freesia-shit, I'm ready to f**k.
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Ciladar
RealPoor Guru
Joined: 15 Oct 2002
Posts: 3765
Location: Northern New Jersey
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Posted: 05/14/05 - 12:10 Post subject:
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| motherface wrote: | | Scrabler wrote: | |
Appropriate reading for someone from the South. |
Lots of pictures too!
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