"Lesbians React To Pheremones In A Unique Way"

[Queersetti]

From Medical News Today:


Pheromones, sexual chemicals, trigger responses in lesbians which are different from those of heterosexual women, heterosexual men and homosexual men, according to a new study at the Stockholm Brain Institute.

The researchers used Positron Emission Tomography (PET) to study the sexuality by watching responses within the brains of twelve lesbian women.

In a previous study, which had looked at heterosexual and homosexual men, the researchers found that the Anterior Hypothalamus brain area was activated when exposed to AND (progesterone derivative 4,16-androstadien-3-one). AND is much more abundant in male sweat than female sweat - ten times more. Heterosexual men's Anterior Hypothalamus area was also activated when exposed to EST (estra-1,3,5(10),16-tetraen-3-ol), a female hormone, found in abundance in pregnant women's urine.

The Hypothalamus region triggers our endocrine system - hormones. It responds to pheromones, chemicals which are thought to trigger sexual responses in humans and animals.

Dr. Ivanka Savic, team leader, and her team found that lesbian women's Anterior Hypothalamus area became activated when exposed to both EST and AND in a similar, but not identical, way to heterosexual men's. However, the researchers said it seems homosexuality is different in men and women.

The researchers found that the lesbian women processed the AND pheronome through the olfactory network, unlike heterosexual women who did so via the anterior hypothalamus.

You can read about this study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today

 

[Xectxny19X]

that's interesting. thanks for sharing the news.

 

[Pookie]

There is a bit more in this article ...

Lesbians' brains respond like straight men

Tuesday, May 9, 2006; Posted: 9:32 a.m. EDT (13:32 GMT)

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.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/05/08/lesbian.brains.ap/index.html

 

[dizzylia]

Does this mean it is all in our head?

*runs away to hide*

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Actually, I find this stuff fascinating. Thank you for sharing!

 

[dizzylia]

(Sorry, I posted twice, Lit was lagging.)

 

[kbate]

There is a bit more in this article ...

I told you a long time ago that I sniff butts to determine who is gay and who isn't.

:emoticon:

*sniff*

 

[DustyWolfe]

I wonder how many of those people labelled as lesbians were actually FtMs (whether they admit it or not). The reason for me wondering this is that they have already found that certain areas of the brain in an FtM are the same as a bio male as opposed to bio females that are not transgendered.

Dont know if that made any sense or not. If not sue me, I'm brain dead

 

[Xectxny19X]

I wonder how many of those people labelled as lesbians were actually FtMs (whether they admit it or not). The reason for me wondering this is that they have already found that certain areas of the brain in an FtM are the same as a bio male as opposed to bio females that are not transgendered.

Dont know if that made any sense or not. If not sue me, I'm brain dead

hehe. that did make sense.

 

[sunandshadow]

So bi people probably process both kinds of pheremones in the hypothalamus rather than the regular scent pathway? It would be nice if somebody would do a study on that, but they probably won't, scientists don't like to do research on bi people because it's a gray area and scientists don't like gray areas.

 

[Queersetti]

I wonder how many of those people labelled as lesbians were actually FtMs (whether they admit it or not). The reason for me wondering this is that they have already found that certain areas of the brain in an FtM are the same as a bio male as opposed to bio females that are not transgendered.

Dont know if that made any sense or not. If not sue me, I'm brain dead

That's an interesting point, but I thin k that , on a study of this sort, they were pretty rigorous about checking the background of the participants, and confined it to a fairly narrow definition of "lesbian"

 

[Queersetti]

So bi people probably process both kinds of pheremones in the hypothalamus rather than the regular scent pathway? It would be nice if somebody would do a study on that, but they probably won't, scientists don't like to do research on bi people because it's a gray area and scientists don't like gray areas.

True, and understandably so. All it would take is one or two participants in the study to later announce they weren't really bi, but were staright or gay, to call any findings into question.

 

[DustyWolfe]

That's an interesting point, but I thin k that , on a study of this sort, they were pretty rigorous about checking the background of the participants, and confined it to a fairly narrow definition of "lesbian"

Good point... Yet it's still hard to say. Alot of people still don't grasp the concept of being Transgendered. I was very sheltered and naive until I was in my early 20's. For some really wierd reason I guess I thought that transgenderism only affected bio males. Don't get me wrong, I've felt that I was supposed to be a boy back around the age of 3 but I didn't know what that was. I thought I was just a freak. Like most FtMs I hid in the lesbian community and labeled myself as a dyke. I could be accepted there and still dress male, pass myself off as a drag king and still date girls, etc.

Anyways, thanks for sharing that article, I found it to be very interesting

 

[Pookie]

I told you a long time ago that I sniff butts to determine who is gay and who isn't.

:emoticon:

*sniff*

I think we should make this a long-term study at the Pookie Institute.

We could get a grant and stuff.

All for the betterment of society, of course.

 

[John Doe]

Twelve is a very small test group. I wouldn't pay much heed to the results unless the group is over a hundred, preferably closer to one thousand.

And even so, it's rather early on to be making any conclusions from this information. More research is needed before a scientifically certain and significant conclusion may be reached.

 

[revolution724]

I agree with Stup - 12 is a really small sample, very low statistical power.

Still, it's interesting... personally, I find that my reactions to pheromones are deeply connected to my sexual orientation; it was the way I reacted to a woman's scent as opposed to a man's that dismissed some lingering doubts when I finally got my first girlfriend.

 

[John Doe]

I agree with Stup - 12 is a really small sample, very low statistical power.

Still, it's interesting... personally, I find that my reactions to pheromones are deeply connected to my sexual orientation; it was the way I reacted to a woman's scent as opposed to a man's that dismissed some lingering doubts when I finally got my first girlfriend.

Yeah, girls smell nice.

 

[PredatorSmile]

I agree with Stup - 12 is a really small sample, very low statistical power.

Still, it's interesting... personally, I find that my reactions to pheromones are deeply connected to my sexual orientation; it was the way I reacted to a woman's scent as opposed to a man's that dismissed some lingering doubts when I finally got my first girlfriend.

I sniffed girl's panties growing up, and I sniff my boyfriend's boxers....i used to crave pussy...now I've got a serious addiction to dick....and i like gay porn....sexuality is a crazy, fluid thing !

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I sniffed girl's panties growing up, and I sniff my boyfriend's boxers....i used to crave pussy...now I've got a serious addiction to dick....and i like gay porn....sexuality is a crazy, fluid thing !

It sounds like different parts of your sexuality are stronger in you than were earlier. Hell, I didn't even realize that I was bi until I was 25. That part of me was repressed and dormant, and it has emerged since then, though my interest in women has always been the strongest part of my sexuality. Though there were clues. I just didn't catch on to them.

 

[sardonic]

All these studies are based on such a compartmentalised and often dichotomous concept of sexuality... straight & gay. Sometimes bi. But sexual behaviours are so varied, not to mention physical and emotional attractions. Plus there's circumstantial sexual behaviours. These studies are so clinical that they completely ignore the social and other contexts of sex and sensuality.

 

[Nirvanadragones]

We're wired differently. No doubt about that.