Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 1991 Aug 30;253(5023):1034-7.
doi: 10.1126/science.1887219.

A difference in hypothalamic structure between heterosexual and homosexual men

S LeVay  1
Affiliations
Comparative Study

A difference in hypothalamic structure between heterosexual and homosexual men

S LeVay. Science. .

Abstract

The anterior hypothalamus of the brain participates in the regulation of male-typical sexual behavior. The volumes of four cell groups in this region [interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus (INAH) 1, 2, 3, and 4] were measured in postmortem tissue from three subject groups: women, men who were presumed to be heterosexual, and homosexual men. No differences were found between the groups in the volumes of INAH 1, 2, or 4. As has been reported previously, INAH 3 was more than twice as large in the heterosexual men as in the women. It was also, however, more than twice as large in the heterosexual men as in the homosexual men. This finding indicates that INAH is dimorphic with sexual orientation, at least in men, and suggests that sexual orientation has a biological substrate.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • Biology and homosexuality.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] Science. 1991 Nov 1;254(5032):630. Science. 1991. PMID: 1948038 No abstract available.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources