http://mindhacks.com/2008/06/17/return-of-the-gay-brain/ Neuroscience and psychology news and views. Wed, 22 May 2013 13:23:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://mindhacks.com/2008/06/17/return-of-the-gay-brain/#comment-6572 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:16:18 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/return-of-the-gay-brain/#comment-6572 “Overall, I like Baron Cohens theory of autism as an extreme male brain. Studies like this suggest that Gay women have a more “masculinized” brain and that gay men have a more “feminised” brain, being the opposing end of the autistic spectrum.”
What do you think of gay autists, such as Daniel Tammet?

]]> http://mindhacks.com/2008/06/17/return-of-the-gay-brain/#comment-6571 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:15:25 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/return-of-the-gay-brain/#comment-6571 This reminds me a great deal of the book ‘Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps’ by Allan and Barbara Pease. In it they assert much the same thing and have a little questionnaire to find out where your brain falls on the feminine to masculine scale. If I remember correctly I was right in the middle.

]]> http://mindhacks.com/2008/06/17/return-of-the-gay-brain/#comment-6570 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:57:45 +0000 http://mindhacksblog.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/return-of-the-gay-brain/#comment-6570 When the study says straight men and gay women showed greater right side Amygdala activity, do they mean greater compared to their own left side, or greater compared to both sides in the straight women and gay men group?
The abstract only says that the straight men and gay women “showed a rightward cerebral asymmetry”
The fact that the amygdala is involved might explain why gay men and straight women are generally considered to be more empathic and understanding of other people’s feelings (particularly in terms of attraction and relationships) due to the Amygdala’s role in emotional processing.
This fits nicely with my (slightly hair-brained) theory that gayness (in men) is the extreme opposite end of the autistic spectrum, as Amygdala abnormalities are common in autism e.g.
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/161/11/2038
A google search reveals many more, but that particular paper shows a smaller LH Amygdala in autism. These studies fit nicely with research on the sexually dimorphic nucleus, which seems to be effected by pre-natal testosterone:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexually_dimorphic_nucleus
Overall, I like Baron Cohens theory of autism as an extreme male brain. Studies like this suggest that Gay women have a more “masculinized” brain and that gay men have a more “feminised” brain, being the opposing end of the autistic spectrum.
Just for the record, I’m about 90% straight…

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