The basis for homosexual behavior has frequently — and often hotly — been debated . Is it nature ? Nurture ? A combination of both?Researchersfrom theUniversidad Veracruzana , Mexico , have make their hat into the gang . They have been able to show that discipline homosexual taste in manful scab can be induced by oxytocin and the psychotropic drug quinpirole .
The drug quinpirole is known to have the same effect on the brain as the neurotransmitter Dopastat , which plays a major role in wages - motivated demeanour . The process of having sex reinforces intimate penchant between male and females , as the brain releases huge levels of dopamine during the act , give the lowlife a felicitous striking and condition the animal ’s preference for its mate . This is endorse up almost immediately after ejaculation , when the male person ’s brain is flooded with the hormone oxytocin . This is thought to dissemble to illuminate their social attachment to their mate by increasing their trust , reward , and induce a state of calm .
When sexually primitive manful rats were exposed to either the internal secretion oxytocin and/or quinpirole , and then made tocohabitwith other sexually fighting males , they develop a social predilection for the other males , even when the drugs were no longer present in their system . Interestingly , their preference was n’t just confine to that social position . When give way a choice days after between a male and a sexually centripetal female , the treated squealer displayed intimate penchant not for the females , but again for the males .
So how do you tell if a crumb is socially , or sexually , attracted to another rat of the same sex ? Well , the researchers used certain cue to ascertain their proclivity , including how much time the treat rats spend with the other males , how much body contact they had , and how many times they sniff their genitals . In addition to these friendly gestures , the care for Male also expose some more aphrodisiacal signal , such as “ non - contact erecting ” and “ female - like solicitations . ”
Amazingly , the result of the endocrine and drug were not just limited to behavioural responses , but also changed the physiology of the rat ' brains . It has long been thought that a area of the hypothalamus in the brain , the sexually dimorphic core group of the medial preoptic area ( SDN - POA ) , is tie in to sexual preference . For all species of mammalian so far investigate , it has been shown to be sexually dimorphic , with the male SDN 5 - 7 multiplication prominent than the females . This is recall to be link to the amount of testosterone experienced during the first postnatal days . During the experiment , the researcher found that those strikebreaker treated with oxytocin saw their SDN psychiatrist .
All , however , is not so simple . Whilst the SDN did wither with exposure to oxytocin , it happened regardless of their partner predilection , and so the size of the SDN did not promise a same - sex mate inclination . This goes against other study , one of whichsuggested that the size of the SDN can be related to sexual penchant in virile sheep and that homosexual behavior might be related to differences in brain human body .
But get ’s not get ahead of ourselves . lock two men in a way and feed them oxytocin and quinpirole is n’t give-up the ghost to wrick them gay , but the study does suggest that it is possible for apparently heterosexual manlike rats to prepare a conditioned homosexual social and sexual leaning , give the right status .
