Close X
Monday, December 23, 2024
ADVT 
Health & Fitness

Y chromosome does not affect women's sexuality

Darpan News Desk IANS, 06 Nov, 2014 09:11 AM
  • Y chromosome does not affect women's sexuality
Women born with a rare condition that gives them a Y chromosome do not only look like women physically, they also have the same brain responses to visual sexual stimuli, says a new study. And the condition is known as complete androgen insensitivity or CAIS.
 
Females normally have an XX chromosome pair and males have an XY chromosome pair. The Y chromosome was identified as the sex-determining chromosome in 1905.
 
In an individual with CAIS, the body's cells are unable to respond to androgen, or male hormones.
 
"Our findings clearly rule out a direct effect of the Y chromosome in producing masculine patterns of response," said Kim Wallen, professor of psychology and behavioural neuro-endocrinology at Emory University in the US.
 
"It is further evidence that we need to revamp our thinking about what we mean by 'man' and 'woman'," Wallen added.
 
The study involved 13 women with CAIS in addition to women without CAIS and men.
 
The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the neural activity their brains.
 
"We did not find any difference between the neural responses of women with CAIS and typical women, although they were both very different from those of the men in the study," said co-researcher Stephan Hamann.
 
"It further confirms that women with CAIS are typical women psychologically, as well as their physical phenotype, despite having a Y chromosome," Hamann concluded.
 
The study appeared in the journal Hormones and Behavior.

MORE Health & Fitness ARTICLES

Daily meditation: a boon for breast cancer survivors

Daily meditation: a boon for breast cancer survivors
Practising meditation has a positive physical impact at the cellular level in breast cancer survivors, new research shows....

Daily meditation: a boon for breast cancer survivors

Long term shift work hampers memory

Long term shift work hampers memory
Long term shift work can help you earn more but it could adversely affect your brain functions, such as memory and processing speed, says a research....

Long term shift work hampers memory

Poor eating habits have long term effects on heart

Poor eating habits have long term effects on heart
Poor eating habits can affect your heart for a long time and the effects can persist long after dietary habits are improved, shows a research....

Poor eating habits have long term effects on heart

Kick the butt to avoid chronic back pain

Kick the butt to avoid chronic back pain
Smokers are three times more likely than non-smokers to develop chronic back pain, warns a research....

Kick the butt to avoid chronic back pain

Exercise reduces risk of breast cancer

Exercise reduces risk of breast cancer
Everybody is aware of the fact that exercise is good for your health, but very few know that it can help in preventing breast cancer too, says an expert....

Exercise reduces risk of breast cancer

Weight-loss surgery reduces diabetes risk

Weight-loss surgery reduces diabetes risk
Weight-loss surgery could reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by around 80 percent in obese people, says a study....

Weight-loss surgery reduces diabetes risk

PrevNext