Gay Sheep And Biology of Homosexuals

A team of researchers at the Oregon Health and Sciences University (U.S.) said in early November that gay sheep that mate only with other rams have different brain structures from "straight" sheep, a finding that may shed light on human sexuality

The differences are similar to those seen in some homosexual humans, but probably only go a small way to explaining the causes of different sexual preferences, they said

Charels Roselli, a professor of physiology and pharmacology who led the study, said his team studied 27 sheep--10 ewes, nine rams that mated only with other rams and eight rams that mated only with females.

The "gay" sheep are strongly homosexual, he said.

"First the scientists watched the sheep to be sure of their behavior--something that cannot be done with humans. Then they took apart their brains.

"There had been reports in humans that a certain area of the hypothalamus was usually larger in males than females," Roselli said. This area was also found to be larger in heterosexual humans than in homosexual men.

But the researchers had used the brains of men who had died of AIDS in their study, which meant the disease or drugs used to treat it could have had an effect on the brain.

The sheep had similar differences in their brains, the researchers told a meeting in Orlando, Florida, of the Society for Neuroscience.

"In a sense we confirmed what's been found in humans," Roselli said.

(end)

Khorsheed.com – Nov 2002