Monday, June 6, 2011

Sexual Orientation Not A Choice, But Set At Birth

Sexual orientation is neurobiological and is set at birth, according to a report delivered by Jerome Goldstein, M.D., a board-​certified medical neurologist and Director of the San Francisco Clinical Research Center. “Sexual orientation is not a matter of choice, it is primarily neurobiological at birth,” Goldstein told the 21st Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS), in Lisbon, Portugal, adding, “Clearly the basis of sexual orientation is in the brain and differences in brain structure and function and the province of neurology.”

We now have even more evidence that being gay or bisexual is not a choice, despite the fact that 42% of Americans still believe being homosexual is “due to factors such as upbringing and environment.” Only 40% of Americans currently believe that people are born gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.

“There are undeniable links. We want to make them visible to the eye,” Goldstein, who is President of the Headache and Facial Pain Section of the American Academy of Neurology, told ENS members, showing how brains of people of different sexual orientations — gay, straight, and bisexual — work in different ways.

“Using volumetric studies, there have been findings of significant cerebral amygdala size differences between homosexual and heterosexual subjects. Sex dimorphic connections were found among homosexual participants in these studies,” Dr. Goldstein noted, according to a report in Medical News Today, which adds that Goldstein, “provided current data regarding homosexuality showing differences and/​or similarities, between the brains of homosexuals and heterosexuals.”

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