Sexual differentiation of the human brain

Abstract

• Sex differences in the structures of human hypothalaiiius and adjacent brain structures have been observed that seem to be related to gender, to gender problems such as transsexuality, and to sexual orientation, that is, heterosexual! ty and homosexuality. A Ithough these observations have yet to be confirmed, and their exact functional implications are far from clear, they open up a whole new field of structuralfunctional relationships in human brain research.

The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender

“…Over several decades, research has examined the 'cause' or characteristics of homosexuality. This includes research on the neuroanatomical differences between straight and gay people (Allen & Gorski, 1992;Byne et al, 2001;LeVay, 1991;Swaab et al, 1997), bodily shape and size (Bogaert & Blanchard, 1996;Bogaert & Friesen, 2002;Martin et al, 2008), prenatal androgens in animals (Domínguez-Salazar et al, 2002;Roselli & Stormshak, 2009;Stockman et al, 1985) and humans (Hickey et al, 2010;Hines et al, 2004), and genetic factors (Hamer et al, 1993;Pillard & Bailey, 1998). Most of this research has been controversial and inconclusive.…”