Gay sheep low on testosterone

We detour from the sporting world, to the sporting world for a moment.  Studies at the Univ of Oregon (Published in Endocrine, reported in Southern Voice)  found that sheep that prefer to mate with female sheep had a larger hypothalamus that sheep who preferred mating with male sheep.  The size of the hypothalamus in the male-preferring sheep was the size of the brain area in female sheep.  The researchers concluded that the hypothalamic differences were due to testosterone levels -- higher in heterosexual sheep.

The researchers observed that the preoptic hypothalamus — the region of the brain that influences sexual behavior and partner preference — in heterosexual rams contained higher levels of a group of neurons known as the sexually dimorphic nucleus, than the preoptic hypothalamus of rams who prefer to mate with other rams.

The researchers also concluded that the volume of the sexually dimorphic nucleus in gay rams is similar to what is found in female sheep, or ewes. Essentially, it means that heterosexual rams had higher levels of testosterone in their sexually dimorphic nucleus compared to gay ram and ewe.

The researchers began manipulating the level of testosterone in pregnant ewes to see if the level of the androgen affected sexual orientation.  Although those studies are inconclusive the group has come in for some harsh criticism, from - of all people - PETA.

But critics of the experiment, led by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, assign much more sinister implications to studying sexual orientation among sheep. In particular, they point to researchers’ follow-up studies that attempted to determine “whether sexual preferences can be altered by manipulating the prenatal hormone environment … [in order] to test their hypothesis regarding development of this area of the brain.

It was noted, however, that the gay sheep sported much sharper fleece than the heterosexual rams...

Comments

[Kevin]

Gay rams actually have MORE testosterone than straight rams. The straight rams expressed higher levels of aromatase, a substance that converts testosterone to estradiol. The gay rams expressed lower levels of aromatase therefore significantly less testosterone is converted to estradiol.

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