Subject: Brain's Anatomy Differs in Gay Men, Research Finds 
Date: Published: 8/3/92 (53 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Technology & Medicine:
    Brain's Anatomy
    Differs in Gay Men,
    Research Finds
    ----
    By David J. Jefferson
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    LOS ANGELES -- Medical researchers here have found what appear to
 be anatomical differences between brains of homosexual and
 heterosexual men.
    While some people were quick to say the small study bolsters
 theories that homosexuality has a biological basis, Roger Gorski,
 who worked on the University of California Los Angeles Medical
 School study said:  "We don't know if there's a causal relationship
 either way.  We haven't even opened Pandora's box.  We have just
 lifted the lid a little bit."
    The study found that a structure connecting the cortex of the
 left and right sides of the brain, which is called the anterior
 commissure, was 34% larger in gay men studied than in heterosexual
 men and 18% larger than in heterosexual women.  The structure is
 believed to carry signals between the two sides of the brain.
    Drs. Gorski and Laura Allen examined brain tissues from autopsies
 of 30 men whose medical records indicated they were homosexual, 30
 men presumed to be heterosexual and 30 heterosexual women.  The
 deceased subjects' medical records indicated no neurological
 diseases; however, 24 of the gay men and six of the heterosexual men
 had died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, which can cause
 neurological damage.
    In part to factor out any possible effects of AIDS on the brain,
 Dr. Allen said the researchers want to study the brains of live
 patients by using magnetic resonance imaging.
    Last year, a brain study indicated a part of the hypothalmus,
 which is believed to govern male sexual behavior, was smaller in
 homosexual men.  The UCLA study "backs up the idea that whatever
 causes people to be gay or straight seems to operate as a normal
 process of sexual differentiation of the brain, and it's very likely
 a pre-natal process," said Simon LeVay, a researcher who conducted
 the earlier study and is gay.  Dr. Gorski's study was spurred by his
 earlier findings that sexual behavior in rats is determined by
 hormone levels before and after birth.
    Robert Bray, spokesman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task
 Force in Washington, said the study "strikes at the heart of the
 argument used by groups who oppose gay equality and say that we
 shouldn't be granted civil rights because we choose our lifestyle."

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