Hi,
Research shows the brains of homosexuals are structurally different
from heterosexuals, which could suggest that the homosexual tendency
is imprinted in the brain from birth. So it is not necessarily a
psychological condition, nor a religious one. Since homosexually has
been around since...well..homo sapiens, this makes more since with the
real world as well.
Simon LeVay observed that INAH3 was more than twice as large in the
men as in the women. But INAH3 was also between two and three fumes
larger in the straight men than in the gay men. In some gay men, as in
the example shown at the top of the opposite page, the cell group was
altogether absent. Statistical analysis indicated that the probability
of this result's being attributed to chance was about one in 1,000. In
fact, there was no significant difference between volumes of INAH3 in
the gay men and in the women. So the investigation suggested a
dimorphism related to male sexual orientation about as great as that
related to sex.
One other feature in brains that is related to sexual orientation has
been reported by Allen and Gorski. They found that the anterior
commissure, a bundle of fibers running across the midline of the
brain, is smallest in heterosexual men, larger in women and largest in
gay men. After correcting for overall brain size, the anterior
commissure in women and in gay men were comparable in size.
At first glance, the very notion of gay genes might seem absurd. How
could genes that draw men or women to members of the same sex survive
the Darwinian screening for reproductive fitness? Surely the parents
of most gay men and lesbians are heterosexual? In view of such
apparent incongruities, research focuses on genes that sway rather
than determine sexual orientation. The two main approaches to seeking
such genes are twin and family studies and DNA linkage analysis.
Twin and family tree studies are based on the principle that
genetically influenced traits run in families. The first modern study
on the patterns of homosexuality within families was published in 1985
by Richard C. Pillard and James D. Weinrich of Boston University.
Since then, five other systematic studies on the twins and siblings of
gay men and lesbians have been reported.
The pooled data for men show that about 57 percent of identical twins,
24 percent of fraternal twins and 13 percent of brothers of gay men
are also gay. For women, approximately 50 percent of identical twins,
16 percent of fraternal twins and 13 percent of sisters of lesbians
are also lesbian. When these data are compared with baseline rates of
homosexuality, a good amount of family clustering of sexual
orientation becomes evident for both sexes. In fact, J. Michael Bailey
of Northwestern University and his co-workers estimate that the
overall heritability of sexual orientation--that proportion of the
variance in a trait that comes from genes-- is about 53 percent for
men and 52 percent for women. (The family clustering is most obvious
for relatives of the same sex, less so for male- female pairs.)
To evaluate the genetic component of sexual orientation and to clarify
its mode of inheritance, we need a systematic survey of the extended
families of gay men and lesbians. One of us (Hamer), Stella Hu,
Victoria L. Magnuson, Nan Hu and Angela M. L. Pattatucci of the
National Institutes of Health have initiated such a study. It is part
of a larger one by the National Cancer Institute to investigate risk
factors for certain cancers that are more frequent in some segments of
the gay population.
Although most of the anatomical and functional studies done so far
have focused on the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for the
higher intellectual and cognitive functions of the brain, other
researchers, such as Dr. Simon LeVay, have shown that there are gender
differences in more primitive parts of the brain, such as the
hypothalamus, where most of the basic functions of life are
controlled, including hormonal control via the pituitary gland. LeVay
discovered that the volume of a specific nucleus in the hypothalamus
(third cell group of the interstitial nuclei of the anterior
hypothalamus) is twice as large in heterosexual men than in women and
homosexual men, thus prompting a heated debate whether there is a
biological basis for homosexuality . Dr. LeVay wrote an interesting
book about the sex differences in the brain, titled "The Sexual Brain"
.
During the development of the embryo in the womb, circulating hormones
have a very important role in the sexual differentiation of the brain.
The presence of androgens in early life produces a "male" brain. In
contrast, the female brain is thought to develop via a hormonal
default mechanism, in the absence of androgen. However, recent
findings have shows that ovarian hormones also play a significant role
in sexual differentiation.
One of the most convincing evidences for the role of hormones, has
been shown by studying girls who were exposed to high levels of
testosterone because their pregnant mothers had congenital adrenal
hyperplasia . These girls seem to have better spatial awareness than
other girls and are more likely to show turbulent and aggressive
behavior as kids, very similar to boys'. But do these differences mean
a superiority/inferiority relationship between men and women?
The hormones, determine the distinct male, female or homosexual
organisation of the brain as it develops in the womb. We share the
same sexual identity for only the first few weeks after conception.
Thereafter, in the womb, the very structure and pattern of the brain
begins to take specifically male, female or homosexual form.
Throughout infant, teenage, and adult life, the way the brain was
forged will have, in subtle interplay with the hormones, a fundamental
effect on the attitudes, behavior, and intellectual and emotional
functioning of the individual. Most neuroscientists and researchers
into the mysteries of the brain are now prepared, like the American
neurologist Dr Richard Restak, to make the confident assertion "it
seems unrealistic to deny any longer the existence of male and female
brain differences. Just as there are physical dissimilarities between
male and females . . . there are equally dramatic differences in brain
functioning". The way our brains are made effects how how we think,
learn, see, feel, smell, communicate, love, make love, fight, succeed,
or fail. Understanding how our brains, and those of others, are made
is a matter of no little importance.
Infants are not blank slates, on whom we scrawl instructions for
sexually-appropriate behavior. They are born with male, female or
homosexual minds of their own. They have, quite literally, made up
their minds in the womb, safe from the legions of social engineers who
impatiently await them.
There are those that disagree with these studies or feel that they are
being misquoted and offer solutions.
NARTH
http://www.narth.com/docs/istheregene.html
Gay conversion Therapy
http://www.advocate.com/html/stories/825/825_truthinadv_767.asp
Some Gays Can Go Straight, Study Says
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/sexualorientation010508.html
Ads Promote Cure for Homosexuality
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/living/InYourHead/allinyourhead_1.html
What a number of these places don't promote is the long term result
are normally a return to homosexuality or the suicide rate of those
that do not.
Most psychologists, Dr. Greenberg believes, are well aware that our
opinions about psychological normality are inevitably shaped by
political, moral and cultural considerations. Most "psychological
disorders" are conditions that are judged, by social consensus, to
represent either faulty character, or socially undesirable behavior.
However, the APA opposes any psychiatric treatment, such as reparative
or conversion therapy, which is based on the assumption that
homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon an assumption
that the patient should change his or her homosexual orientation
Links of reference:
AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION BOLSTERS CONDEMNATION OF REPARATIVE
THERAPY' TO CHANGE' GAYS
http://www.hrc.org/newsreleases/1998/981211apa.asp
Evidence for a Biological Influence in Male Homosexuality
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/genetics/evidence.html
Brian Science / Brain Fiction
http://www.ascd.org/author/el/98/nov/bruer.html
Medical Psychology of Homosexuality
http://www.addall.com/Browse/Detail/0788315986.html
Can Gays become straight?
http://content.health.msn.com/content/article/32/1728_79397?
Psychology: Science or Ideology?
http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/narth/science-ideology.html
Islam and Psychological Issues
http://www.islamicmedicine.org/psychology.htm
Twin Studies of Homosexuality
http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/timt/papers/twin_studies/
Reparative Therapy: A Pseudo Science
http://jgford.homestead.com/
Search
"Conversion Therapy" +Homosexuals
"Conversion or Reparative Therapy" +Homosexuals
"Brain Sex"
The Sexual Brain
Male +Female +Homosexual +"brain cells" +"brain sex"
Male +Female +Homosexual +"brain cells" +brain sex
thanks,
webadept-ga |
