new research

[luxveritas]

I came across this

study on yahoo.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060508/ap_on_sc/lesbian_brains

[jvkohl]

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]

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]

A link to the article was

posted by Luxveritas yesterday. See the "new research" thread.

JVK

[remy]

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]

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]

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.

[remy]

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]

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]

"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]

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]

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]

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