Gay Men respond differently to Pheromones

[SAMAS]

Anybody suprised by this? Anyone?

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer 47 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Gay men's brains respond differently from those of heterosexual males when exposed to a sexual stimulus, researchers have found. The homosexual men's brains responded more like those of women when the men sniffed a chemical from the male hormone testosterone.
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"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, said the findings clearly 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.

___

On the Net:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: http://www.pnas.org

Karolinska Institute: http://info.ki.se/index_en.html

Monell Center: http://www.monell.org/

[Pick]

Another useful piece of research for any debate on this subject. Thank you for the link. I'm not the tiniest bit surprised.

[General Zod]

it makes sense. though i still suspect rabid homophobes will still find ways to dismiss this.

[The Spartan]

I'm not shocked at all. But it'll be interesting to see the fundy response to this. I suspect they'll try to invent some rationalization of it that has something to do with god testing people's willpower and that it doesn't really change anything blahblahblah.

Nevertheless, it'll still be a useful tool in combating bigotry. We may have to print the study on the end of a baseball bat at first but I think this will slowly begin to tear down the walls, so to speak.

[Molyneux]

...What about bisexual folk, like myself?

[Pint0 Xtreme]

That would explain why I like sniffing my boyfriend. But then I knew that already.

[Durandal]

Clearly, the researchers are anti-faith.

[Pablo Sanchez]

Clearly, the researchers are anti-faith.

I would go one step deeper than that. I firmly stick my finger in the face of science and the facts themselves and say, "You have forsaken God!"

[Durandal]

Clearly, the researchers are anti-faith.

I would go one step deeper than that. I firmly stick my finger in the face of science and the facts themselves and say, "You have forsaken God!"

Let's be fair. The facts are the facts. The real crime here is that the researchers didn't have the decency to alter, ignore or otherwise tamper with such clearly anti-Christian facts.

[Wicked Pilot]

Gay men probably also respond differently to the sight of large breast, shapely thighs, vaginas, and monster trucks, so I don't see how this is anything new.

[wautd]

pheromones are the tools of the devil!

[Flakin]

pheromones are the tools of the devil!

They don't exist, and even if they do, they are just there as a test of faith!!

[st. mark]

pheromones are the tools of the oposite sex - unless you are, as the sweedish study shows, homosexual.

The conclusion in sweedish says that "This study suggest that there is a relation between sexual preference and brainprocess, especially the part that is related to sexual behaviour". It does not say if the different reaction of the hypothalamus is genetic, or if homosexual men have learned to react differently.

If the sweedish study make it plausible that homosexual men would get turned on by the AND-pheromone similar to a mans sweat, the same way a women does. If the Phildaelphia study really proves that hetrosexuals and homosexuals smell differently - it sounds likely to me that all the women in the study all must have been lesbians - or that at least one of the studies have made a very hasty conclusion.

...and all my homosexual friends shower and shave every day - no wonder why they smell better then all the bearded guys I work with.

[Chmee]

The fundie conclusion here is obvious: homosexuality can be 'cured' with the right cologne!

"Calvin Klein Conversion .... "

[That NOS Guy]

That would explain why I like sniffing my boyfriend. But then I knew that already.

The first thing I thought upon reading that statement was "Oh, the axe effect." Damn that commercialization.

Anyway, I thought the jury was still out on pheromones and the human body, guess I heard wrong.

[Alyrium Denryle]

pheromones are the tools of the oposite sex - unless you are, as the sweedish study shows, homosexual.

The conclusion in sweedish says that "This study suggest that there is a relation between sexual preference and brainprocess, especially the part that is related to sexual behaviour". It does not say if the different reaction of the hypothalamus is genetic, or if homosexual men have learned to react differently.

If the sweedish study make it plausible that homosexual men would get turned on by the AND-pheromone similar to a mans sweat, the same way a women does. If the Phildaelphia study really proves that hetrosexuals and homosexuals smell differently - it sounds likely to me that all the women in the study all must have been lesbians - or that at least one of the studies have made a very hasty conclusion.

...and all my homosexual friends shower and shave every day - no wonder why they smell better then all the bearded guys I work with.

brain differences have been found bewtween homosexual men and heterosexual men. In fact the preoptic hypothalmus which controls sexual behavior, is in fct closer to that of a female in anatomy in homosexual men.

[Rogue 9]

Well, I know how the fundies are going to answer it. +http://forum.protestwarrior.com/viewtopic.php?t=77966 They're going to say it's a lie. (Actually I don't know that this FormerGay person is a fundie or not; homosexuality is all he posts about, never said anything about anything else. But it seems a safe assumption.)

[Firefox]

Well, I know how the fundies are going to answer it. +http://forum.protestwarrior.com/viewtopic.php?t=77966 They're going to say it's a lie. (Actually I don't know that this FormerGay person is a fundie or not; homosexuality is all he posts about, never said anything about anything else. But it seems a safe assumption.)

He seems a little too obsessed about homosexuality if he's a "former homosexual". Curious.

[Lord Zentei]

We have only his word for the fact that he ever was a homosexual.

OT: No I am not surprised at all. More independant studies are needed for additional ammo and verification (though if I know the Religious Reich correctly, they'll yabber about conspiracies and whatnot).

[Frank Hipper]

When a person chooses to turn away from the Lovingkindness of the Lamb's Blood and His Blessed Sacrifice to live in damnable perversion and lust, it is no wonder that the ensuing demon infestation causes minor physical changes, and the obvious fact that this is a choice should be clear to all Right-Thinking saved persons.

[Winston Blake]

fade in

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*dramatically pulls sheet off huge bizarrely complicated machine with a restrainted seat in the centre.

Using advanced audio-visual-olfactory stimulation technology combined with a conventional positron scanner, you too can now find out if you should stone to death your friends, enemies and children for being damn dirty homos! This revolutionary whole-system package is based on recent cutting-edge research by red-blooded heterosexual scientists, lead by Dr Straitus Baltar:

Baltar: "Ve're just zeez guys, you know?"

And now for a limited time only, we're offering 'Truth and Reconciliation Mode', providing brainwashing capablities previously only available to the most powerful governments on Earth.
*electrified spikes and dripping syringes extend from machine

Give your child a better brain chemistry for just 4 easy payments of $89.99!
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fade out

[Lord Zentei]

fade in

<snip all-too-plausible scenario>

fade out

Yeah, there may be asstards who claim that such "disabilities" as homosexuality can be "cured" now. Never underestimate the "ingenuity" of stupid people.