Do gay men have similar brains to women

Previous studies have examined brain differences between gay and straight people on the basis of their responses to various tasks, such as rating the attractiveness of other people.

For example, the brains of

Overall, these specific brain regions in homosexual males tended to be similar to heterosexual women (more female‐typical), while these same brain regions homosexual women tended to be similar. Gay men, meanwhile, had symmetrical brains like those of straight women. The team next used PET scans to measure blood flow to the amygdala, part of the brain that governs fear and aggression.

For example, the brains of straight men and of gay women share certain common features: both are slightly asymmetric, with the right hemisphere larger than the left, say the Swedish researchers. Brain scans show similarities in shape and connections between gay brains and straight ones from the opposite sex.

Some research suggests that the brain activity of homosexual individuals in areas unrelated to sex mirror brain activity in straight individuals of the opposite sex. Brain scans also showed the same symmetry among lesbians and straight men, the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In straight women and gay men, the connections were mainly into regions of the brain that manifest fear as intense anxiety.

Depression Link. Stream on. Many scientists believe both nature and nurture play a part. Latest Stories U. Skip to Content.

Study Says Brains of Gay Men and Women Are Similar | Scientific American

NBC News Logo. Subscription Plans Give a Gift Subscription. Gay men, meanwhile, had symmetrical brains like those of straight women. To get around this, Savic-Berglund focused on the structure and function of brain regions that develop during similar development or early infancy—without using any cognitive tasks or rating systems. Stream on.

Fuel switches on Air India flight cut off moments before fatal crash: Report. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. Previous studies have also shown differences in brain architecture and activity between gay and straight people, but most relied on people's responses to sexuality driven brains women that could have been learned, such as rating the attractiveness of male or female faces.

The problem was that there was no way to determine whether their responses were colored by learned gay men cues. Search Search. By ABC News. Researchers using brain scans have found new evidence that biology—and not environment—is at the core of sexual orientation. Sign In Create your free profile. Follow NBC News. Jul 14, AM. Jul 11, PM. Brain scans provide evidence that sexual orientation is biological.

They have that the patterns of connectivity in gay men matched those of straight women, and vice versa see image, above right. Jul 14, AM. The images showed how the amygdala connects to other parts of the brain, giving them clues as to how this might influence behavior. And certain psychological studies have revealed differences in how men and women use the brain's different hemispheres for verbal tasks, for example.