Neurobiology and sexual orientation: current relationships.
Despite great progress in the neurosciences, our understanding of the determinants of sexual orientation is incomplete. The authors review for the clinician/neuropsychiatrist studies pertaining to the formation of sexual orientation in the following areas: hormone effects on sexual behavior (animal and human); the complicated relationship between gender identity, gender role, and sexual orientation in humans; cross-cultural studies of homosexuality; behavioral observations in pseudohermaphrodites and offspring of mothers treated with hormones during pregnancy; brain studies of homosexual and heterosexual individuals; and genetic studies. The authors conclude that human sexual orientation is complex and diversely experienced and that a biopsychosocial model best fits the current state of knowledge in the field.
Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY.
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RC
Friedman
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Downey
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006716:Homosexuality; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009446:Neurobiology; D012725:Sexual Behavior