Gay Men Navigate in a Similar Way to Women

Yet another research study has indicated that something more than mere "choice" as claimed by the Christianists is going on with gays. This UK study once again shows that there are basic inherent differences between gays and straights and in my view further underscores the fact that sexual orientation has some genetic or physiological basis. Here are highlights from 365gay.com's coverage (http://www.365gay.com/Newscon08/01/010308drive.htm):

(London) Gay men navigate in a similar way to women, according to a new study from researchers at Queen Mary, University of London.

In a new study published this week in the journal Hippocampus, Dr Qazi Rahman, from Queen Mary’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences used virtual reality scenarios to investigate if spatial learning and memory in humans can be linked to sexual orientation.Differences in spatial learning and memory - our ability to record and recall information about our environment - are common between men and women. It has been shown that men consistently outperform women on tasks requiring navigation and discovering hidden objects; whereas women are more successful at tests which require them to remember where those objects lie in a particular space.This is the first study to investigate if those differences are also true for gay, lesbian and straight individuals.

Dr Rahman explains: “Not only did straight men get started on the MWM test more quickly than gay men and the two female groups, they also maintained that advantage throughout the test. This might mean that sexual orientation affects the speed at which you acquire spatial information, but not necessarily your eventual memory for that spatial information.