I read that homosexuals have differently shaped brains than heterosexuals… this sounds like a feeble attempt at reinforcing the claim that homosexuals are naturally homosexual, and therefore any critisicm to homosexual’s lifestyles should be considered unfair.
He apparentally did the experiment on “gay sheep”…
twenty bucks to whoever finds out if it’s true.
(thirty bucks to whoever finds out if it’s not true… hahaha)
“Come here, Doctor Smedley. Does this brain look queer to you?”
…and “gay sheep”? How could you tell? Maybe they’re just sexually-frustrated prisoner sheep, like on “Oz”?
I can’t believe I just typed that. Only on this board …
There have been studies done on the brains of gay men and women, and transgendered people, and the main variation has been found in the size and (somewhat less so) shape of the hypothalamus.
Sorry, I have no cites on-hand, got 'em in a filing cabinet at home . . .
Didn’t they also find a corelation between the lengths of the ring finger in relationship to the index finger?
So, when should Astro expect the cash?
:smack: That should eb “So, when should Steve Wright expect the cash?”
For a discussion of the various “gay brain” studies from the pro and con perspectives, see Chandler Burr’s A Separate Creation.
That’s a party gag with no scientific basis, sorry.
I guess someone needs to tell the researchers in this BBC story, then.
SC_Wolf, the “study” has failed in replication since then.
Cite?
Here’s the most troubling portion of your post. Regardless of the origins or physiology of homosexuality, criticisms of their ‘lifestyle’ ARE unfair.
Live and let live my man.
Yeah I’m kind of interested in that cite too.
This discussion should remain factually based. It should contain information and references, preferably peer-reviewed ones. I see three references from peer-reveiwed journals suggesting that physical structures are correlated with sexual orientation.
If you have references that suggest the contrary, or information that the above studies have failed to be replicated then make with a reference.
If you suggest that Nature accepts papers with “no scientific basis” then prepare to hear me laugh at you.
And TerryW, if this is simply a thinly-veiled attempted to voice your “criticism to homosexual’s lifestyles” we have another forum for that. I’m sure people will be more than happy to rip you a new assh… er, carefully respond to your well-thought out rant.
The theory you’re probably thinking of is Simon LeVay’s study of the hypothalamus. LeVay, a neurologist, dissected the brains of several women and several men, including a few men who had self-identified as gay.
The hypothalamus is an area of the brain typically associated with many of our more primitive instincts, including sexuality. It’s about half the size in women than in men. LeVay found that it was about half the size in gay men, as well.
LeVay’s sample size was small, and his study has never been replicated at all, so there’s still a lot of skepticism. Still, since the majority of gay men – including myself – feel we were “born this way,” it makes a lot of sense to us.
LeVay’s written a couple of books on the subject. His The Sexual Brain is very interesting, and very readable.
:: stands behind Alphagene::
YEAH!
I’ll look into cites. I’m not saying that that study lacked scientific basis, just that attempts to replicate it have resulted in contradictory conclusions.
Please do. I’m curious now. Doesn’t matter either way to me if this finger length thing goes the way of Pons and Fleischman. I just came up with my link with a casual Google, and who knows, maybe two or three links down would have been a link to your study. Rules of the game say it’s your turn now, so I’m going to sit back and let you do some hunting for a change. 