IUBio

Amygdala who cares

James Kohl jkohl at vegas.infi.net
Thu May 9 22:28:13 EST 1996


In article <4me1qn$60t at scotsman.ed.ac.uk>, shawg at aisb.ed.ac.uk says...
>
>Why does nobody care about the amygdala, what does it do and more 
>importantly how does it do it ?

I'm not convinced that nobody cares. It may be merely a lack of knowledge 
of its function in olfaction that contibutes to disinterest. Perhaps I 
can stimulate some interest by mentioning Perkins, Fitgerald, & Moss 
(1995) A comparison of LH secretion and brain estradiol receptors in 
heterosexual and homosexual rams and female sheep. Hormones and Behavior 
29: 31-41.

The content of estradiol receptors in the amygdala of homosexual rams and 
of ewes was similar, but less than in heterosexuals. One could posit that 
the amygdala is linked to sexual orientation in a higher-than-rodent 
mammalian model. Given what is known about mammalian 
olfactory-genetic-neuronal-hormonal-behavioral reciprocity, one could 
also posit that odors are linked via the amygdala to human sexual 
orientation.

Whoops! I may have just made an unforgivable cross-species comparison. 
Sorry about that (not).

Jim Kohl
http://www.pheromones.com





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