View Full Version : new research
luxveritas
05-08-2006, 02:30 PM
I came across this
study on yahoo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060508/ap_on_sc/lesbian_brains
jvkohl
05-08-2006, 05:23 PM
I came across
this study on yahoo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060508/ap_on_sc/lesbian_brains
Good
catch. It's already being discussed on the sexology research listserver. I added this to the
discussion.
--------------------------------------------------------------
124 Poster Chemosensory Coding and
Clinical
HETEROSEXUAL FEMALES, BUT NOT LESBIANS, SENSITIZE TO LOW LEVELS OF ODORANT
Wysocki C.1,
Sergeant M.2, Louie J.1 1Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA; 2Division of Psychology, Nottingham
Trent
University, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Sexual orientation influences human olfaction (Martins et al,
2005, Psych. Sci.). Here we report that lesbians, like heterosexual males, do not demonstrate a gender-typical
process of olfactory sensitization to low level odorants previously reported for women, but not men (Dalton et al.,
2002, Nat. Neurosci.). This finding suggests that within-gender variation in sensitization among women may not be
fully explained by
changes in levels of activational
hormones.
--------------------------------------------------------------
I have an article in press for late
this year that explains olfactory/pheromonal conditioning of human male sexual preferences (including homosexual
preferences). There will soon be sufficient data from human studies to include olfactory/pheromonal conditioning of
human female sexual preferences.
JVK
nbnbtc
05-09-2006, 05:51 AM
So, I haven't actually posted in over a year, but I haven't given up the phero
enthusiasm by any means.
I heard this on the radio this morning and looked it up, it is pretty interesting
so I thought I would share with you guys. Heck, I have been out of the loop for so long that this probably isn't
even news to anyone on here, but at least it got me to post again.
http://www.slate.com/id/2141239/
Girl-on-Girl
Olfaction
Do lesbians smell differently?
By William Saletan
Updated Tuesday, May 9, 2006, at 7:31 AM ET
(For the latest Human Nature columns on junk food, gay marriage, and polygamy, click
here.)
Lesbian brains differ from straight women's brains. Last year, a study showed that gay men, like
straight women and unlike straight men, processed a male pheromone in a sex-related part of the brain (the
hypothalamus) but processed a female pheromone in a scent-related part of the brain. Now the authors of that study
report differences among women: 1) Lesbians, like straight men, prefer the female pheromone and find it less
irritating than the male pheromone. 2) Straight women find the female pheromone more irritating. 3) Straight men and
women process same-sex pheromones in the scent area but process opposite-sex pheromones in the hypothalamus. 4)
Lesbians process pheromones of both sexes in the scent area. Interpretations: 1) Sexual orientation is biologically
based, not a choice. 2) Sexual orientation is more biologically based in men than in women.
jvkohl
05-09-2006, 06:31 AM
A link to the article was
posted by Luxveritas yesterday. See the "new research" thread.
JVK
i'm agree with this study ..during
a long time, i told myself...why did i meet always any girlfreinds always very masculine or bi...and not success
with any girls very feminal..i have the answer nowdays...i'm programmed to attract a specifical type of girl...i
dont do the majority unfortunately with others type of girls and despit a good looking...may be npa could be change
the situation but im skeptical..
nbnbtc
05-09-2006, 08:18 AM
A link to the
article was posted by Luxveritas yesterday. See the "new research" thread.
JVK
Thanks! That is what I get for being gone for so long I
guess.
L.A. Guy
05-09-2006, 09:06 AM
This is the most interesting
part of the study:
"In heterosexual males the male hormone was processed in the scent area but the female
hormone was processed in the hypothalamus, which is related to sexual stimulation. In straight women the sexual area
of the brain responded to the male hormone while the female hormone was perceived by the scent area."
Seems to
add pretty strong support to the value of pheromones.
true but whats really the
definition of homo? I m not homo, i dont have some relations with men but all my girlfriends are very masculine..or
bi...
bronzie
05-09-2006, 12:11 PM
In my experience, this study
goes against the grain in what I have experienced with definite boarderline lesbian/bisexual women, im not talking
Bi curious here. Most have responded negatively to couplins and also neutral to .nol. However they have responded
very well to .none and .rone.
I do agree with the study that gay men are more biologically inclined to be
that way than Lesbian women, its actually been suggested, genetically to be the case. Often being a lesbian is a
social and psycological construct from a very young age.
Also what I find really interesting is that full
"dyke" stereotype lesbian women can be seduced into falling for a man, thus in effect making them Bisexual. Wheres
most gay men are almost impossible to jump the fence into the hetrosexual world. Thier sexuality is alot more
rigid.
koolking1
05-09-2006, 02:55 PM
"Are Lesbian
Brains Different?
Study Suggests Difference in Lesbians' Brains
From Dr. Alan Cantwell,
MD
alancantwell@sbcglobal.net
5-9-6
WASHINGTON (AP) - Lesbians' brains react
differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women, new research indicates.
That's in line with
an earlier study that had indicated gay men's brain responses were different from straight men - though the
difference for men was more pronounced than has now been found in women.
Lesbians' brains reacted
somewhat, though not completely, like those of heterosexual men, a team of Swedish researchers said in Tuesday's
edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A year ago, the same group reported findings
for gay men that showed their brain response to hormones was similar to that of heterosexual women.
In
both cases the findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior.
"It shows sexual orientation may very well have a different basis between men and women ... this is not
just a mirror image situation," said Sandra Witelson, an expert on brain anatomy and sexual orientation at the
Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
"The important thing
is to be open to the likely situation that there are biological factors that contribute to sexual orientation,"
added Witelson, who was not part of the research team.
The research team led by Ivanka Savic at the
Stockholm Brain Institute had volunteers sniff 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 same team reported last year on
a comparison of the response of male homosexuals to heterosexual men and women. They found that the brains of gay
men reacted more like those of women than of straight men.
The new study shows a similar, but weaker,
relationship between the response of lesbians and straight men.
Heterosexual women found the male and
female pheromones about equally pleasant, while straight men and lesbians liked the female pheromone more than the
male one. Men and lesbians also found the male hormone more irritating than the female one, while straight women
were more likely to be irritated by the female hormone than the male one.
All three groups rated the male
hormone more familiar than the female one. Straight women found both hormones about equal in intensity, while
lesbians and straight men found the male hormone more intense than the female one.
The brains of all three
groups were scanned when sniffing male and female hormones and a set of four ordinary odors. Ordinary odors were
processed in the brain circuits associated with smell in all the volunteers.
In heterosexual males the
male hormone was processed in the scent area but the female hormone was processed in the hypothalamus, which is
related to sexual stimulation. In straight women the sexual area of the brain responded to the male hormone while
the female hormone was perceived by the scent area.
In lesbians, both male and female hormones were
processed the same, in the basic odor processing circuits, Savic and her team reported.
Each of the three
groups of subjects included 12 healthy, unmedicated, right-handed and HIV-negative individuals.
The
research was funded by the Swedish Medical Research Council, Karolinska Institute and the Wallenberg Foundation.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.
Alan Cantwell M.D.
alancantwell@sbcglobal.net
http://www.ariesrisingpress.com
FOUR WOMEN AGAINST
CANCER"
koolking1
05-09-2006, 03:02 PM
what I get out of this is
that most women could actually go either way or both. In the swinger's world there are tons of women who have
become bisexual after time but few men who do (admittedly though, this seems to be on the increase). This knowledge
can only help us Phero users!!!
jvkohl
05-09-2006, 08:39 PM
Ivanka Savic's work to date has
been done using "The testosterone derivative 4,16-androstadien-3-one (AND) and the estrogen-like steroid
estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol (EST)..."
No copulins, so far as I know.
Also, I share concerns with
other researchers with regard to whether 4,16-androstadien-3-one is a testosterone derivitive. If any of our expert
steroid biochemists could detail a link from testosterone to "androstadienone" I would appreciate it. Elaboration
of the pathway from DHEA sulfate to androstadienone might also help others understand more about why the adrenal
glands appear to be a more likely influence on masculine scent signatures than the gonads (i.e.,
testicles).
JVK
Pancho1188
05-15-2006, 07:33 AM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/
story/0,,1770461,00.html (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1770461,00.html)
Revealed: how scent of a
woman attracts lesbians
Ian Sample, science correspondent
Tuesday
May 9, 2006
Guardian
Sex pheromones, the chemicals some scientists believe waft off the body to help attract
sexual partners, are processed differently in the brain depending on our sexuality.
Using a brain scanning technique called positron emission
tomography, scientists found that a potent chemical lurking in male sweat causes a rush of electrical activity in
the brains of straight women and gay men, while lesbians and straight men treat it like any other common odour.
Ivanka Savic, a neuroscientist at the Stockholm Brain Institute who led
the study, said the finding suggested specific brain circuits were engaged when we were exposed to chemicals we
found sexually stimulating. She added that the scans did not reveal whether sexual behaviour was learned or
hard-wired in our brains at birth.
In the study, three groups of 12 volunteers, including
lesbians, heterosexual women and straight men, were asked to sniff a variety of odours. They included odourless air,
four common scents and a chemical, known as androstadienone (AND) that is 10 times more abundant in male than female
sweat and is suspected of acting as a male pheromone.
After smelling the
odours, the volunteers were given brain scans that revealed which regions of their brains had the greatest increase
in blood flow, a measure of how much they had been stimulated. The scans showed that after sniffing AND, a region of
the brain called the anterior hypothalamus lit up in heterosexual women and gay men.
The brain scans of lesbian women and straight men showed a marked difference after sniffing the male
sweat chemical, however. Brain scans revealed activity increasing in parts of the brain called the piriform cortex
and amygdala, which are believed to light up when the brain processes any odour.
The researchers also found that lesbians and heterosexual men responded in the same way to a potential
female pheromone called EST. Brain scans showed that clusters of neurons lit up in the brains of both groups when
they smelled the odour, which were not activated in heterosexual women.
"This is the first study to show that these chemicals can activate specific brain circuits," Dr Savic
said. The study appears today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2006
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