NS 2002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Rodent, Cerebral Cortex, Substantia Nigra
Document Summary
Learning outcome and summary sexuality: definitions of sexuality, based on purely biological differences. Physiological sex characteristics such as sex organs: based on cognitive, conscious, emotional, social, cultural experience. An individual"s conscious perception of their own phenotypic sex. This is the most controversial questions about sex are related to this concept: sexual identity and orientation and the brain. First of all, in humans there is no clear evidence for differences in cognitive functions that are purely based on sex: the case fruit fly, there is a genetic mechanism known. Be able to describe the function of the fruitless gene (distinguish its function from determining physical sex phenotype) Disrupting genes responsible for phenotypic sex had no influence on sex specific courtship behavior. So, the gene cascade controlling phenotypic sex cannot explain behavioral differences and sexual orientation. The fruitless gene on the other hand does explain sexual orientation (behavior), but has no effect on physical phenotypic characteristics.
