Gay Men Are Found to Have Different Scent of Attraction

[Sola]

Here is another article about this study that has some additional info:

start.sprint.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20050510/428031c0_3421_1334520050510-421262727

Gay Men Respond Differently to Pheromones

One thing to notice, though, that in this Swedish study, there were 36 people that were studied. That’s a pretty small sample size. I don’t say that to try to debunk the results, just something to keep in mind. It would be interesting if the sample size were increased. We also aren’t told what the percentages are that responded in certain ways - for instance, did ALL gay men react identically to each other, did ALL straight men react identically to each other, or did any individuals go against the majority of their group?

At least the first article linked in this thread does state that researchers have not tried to claim whether these reactions to scent are a cause or an effect.

 

[Mac6yver]

Space Ghost-

The hypothalamus is a region of the brain, it is not part of the human genitals.

-Travis

 

[rlg94086]

Here’s what caught my eye in the article:

The different pattern of activity that Dr. Savic sees in the brains of gay men could be either a cause of their sexual orientation or an effect of it. If sexual orientation has a genetic cause, or is influenced by hormones in the womb or at puberty, then the neurons in the hypothalamus could wire themselves up in a way that permanently shapes which sex a person is attracted to.

Alternatively, Dr. Savic’s finding could be just a consequence of straight and gay men’s using their brain in different ways.

“We cannot tell if the different pattern is cause or effect,” Dr. Savic said. “The study does not give any answer to these crucial questions.”

In other words, while it is interesting research and may lead to a further understanding of homosexuality, it doesn’t really prove anything about the cause of SSA.

Robert.