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Published on: 5/10/2005
Last Visited: 3/11/2007
"The regions of the brain involved have been found to be involved in sexual behavior, based on animal studies," said Brian Mustanski, from the department of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago."Some previous studies also found differences between gay and straight men in these brain regions," he added.
Mustanski noted that this study suggests a link between sexual orientation and brain processes, specifically in the hypothalamus."Another study, to soon be published in Psychological Science, found differences in the odors of gay and heterosexual men," he said.
Taken together, these studies suggest that sexual orientation has a biological component related to body odor and possible pheromones, Mustanski said."It also helps to demonstrate that sexual orientation is not a simple choice -- how could such a choice influence the production of and response to body odors?
"These studies converge with previous research using family studies, twin studies, and molecular genetic studies to show that sexual orientation is at least partly determined by biology," he said.
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SOURCES: Brian Mustanski, Ph.D., department of psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago; Warren Throckmorton, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology, Grove City College, Pa.; Jeffrey Satinover, M.D., former Fellow in Psychiatry and Child Psychiatry, Yale University, and a former William James Lecturer in Psychology and Religion at Harvard University; Winnie Stachelberg, vice president, Human Rights Campaign Foundation, Washington, D.C.; May 10, 2005, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences