INAH 3

Interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

INAH-3 is the short form for the third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus, and is the sexually dimorphic nucleus of humans. The INAH-3 is significantly larger in males than in females irrespective of age.[1] Homologues of the INAH-3 have been observed taking a direct role in sexual behavior in rhesus monkeys,[2] sheep,[3] and rats.[4]

Research

The term INAH (interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus), first proposed in 1989 by a group of the University of California at Los Angeles, refers to 4 previously undescribed cell groups of the preoptic-anterior hypothalamic area (PO-AHA) of the human brain, which is a structure that influences gonadotropin secretion, maternal behaviour, and sexual behavior in several mammalian species. There are four nuclei in the PO-AHA (INAH1-4). One of these nuclei, INAH-3, was found to be 2.8 times larger in the male brain than in the female brain irrespective of age.[5]

A study authored by Simon LeVay and published in the journal Science suggests that the region is an important biological substrate with regards to sexual orientation. This article reported the INAH-3 to be smaller on average in homosexual men than in heterosexual men, and in fact has approximately the same size in homosexual men as in heterosexual women.[6][7] This study was criticized as having various methodological flaws, including the use of brain samples from patients who had died from AIDS.[8]

LeVay's study could be interpreted as suggesting that the region could have a biological substrate in sexual orientation, but that alone does not signify that the size of INAH-3 as a sole cause or consequence of an individual's sexual orientation.[7] For instance, LeVay himself cited possibilities that could account for this phenomenon, including changes in hormonal exposure or sensitivity during early development, or that the brain region changed in response to the behavior and was not the cause of it, or that there exists some unidentified confound which both changes the anatomy of the brain and influences sexual behavior, meaning the correlation seen in the INAH-3 is not causal.[9] However, it was proved that in rats, the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area (SDN-POA) appears during the perinatal sensitive period as a consequence of the dependence of its constituent neurons on circulating androgen, thus offering indirect support for hormonal hypothesis. After this period, even extreme interventions, such as castration, have little effect on the size of the nucleus, which would help contradict the second possibility of behavior changing brain structure.[10][11] It has been suggested that the human INAH-3 was the homologue of the rat’s central nucleus of the medial preoptic area.[12]

Other researchers have studied correlations between INAH-3 volume and other aspects of sexual identity. A study of transsexual individuals by neuroanatomist Dick Swaab found male-to-female transsexuals to have a size and number of neurons of INAH-3 closer to a normal female range, and that female-to-male transsexuals have a size and number of INAH-3 neurons closer to a normal male range. This finding that the size of the INAH-3 more closely corresponded to the gender the subject identified with rather than their biological or chromosomal gender has since been repeated, but is still controversial due to potential confounds of hormone replacement therapy.[13][14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Allen LS; Hines M; Shryne JE; Gorski RA (1989). "Two sexually dimorphic cell groups in the human brain.". J Neurosci 9 (2): 497–506. PMID 2918374.
  2. ↑ Slimp JC; Hart BL; Goy RW (Feb 17, 1978). "Heterosexual, autosexual and social behavior of adult male rhesus monkeys with medial preoptic-anterior hypothalamic lesions.". Brain Res. 142 (1): 105–22. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(78)90180-4. PMID 414825.
  3. ↑ Roselli C, Larkin k, Resko J, Stellflug J, and Stormshak F (2004). "Volume of a Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus in the Ovine Medial Preoptic Area/Anterior Hypothalamus Varies with Sexual Partner Preference". Endocrinology 145 (2): 478–483. doi:10.1210/en.2003-1098. PMID 14525915.
  4. ↑ Balthazart J, Ball G (2007). "Topography in the preoptic region: Differential regulation of appetitive and consummatory male sexual behaviors". Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology 28 (4): 161–178. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2007.05.003. PMC 2100381. PMID 17624413.
  5. ↑ Allen, L.S.; Hines, M.; Shryne, J.E.; Gorski, R.A. (Feb 1989). "Two sexually dimorphic cell groups in the human brain.". The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 9 (2): 497–506. PMID 2918374.
  6. ↑ "Central Nervous System Dimorphisms Related to Reproductive Behaviors" Dale Purves ed., Neuroscience, 2:ed (2001) Online http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=neurosci.section.2127
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 LeVay, S (Aug 30, 1991). "A difference in hypothalamic structure between heterosexual and homosexual men.". Science 253 (5023): 1034–7. doi:10.1126/science.1887219. PMID 1887219.
  8. ↑ Hegarty, P. (1 August 1997). "Materializing the Hypothalamus: A Performative Account of the `Gay Brain'". Feminism & Psychology 7 (3): 355–372. doi:10.1177/0959353597073009.
  9. ↑ LeVay, S.; Hamer, D.H. (May 1994). "Evidence for a biological influence in male homosexuality.". Scientific American 270 (5): 44–9. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0594-44. PMID 8197444.
  10. ↑ Gorski, R.A.; Gordon, J.H.; Shryne, J.E.; Southam, A.M. (Jun 16, 1978). "Evidence for a morphological sex difference within the medial preoptic area of the rat brain.". Brain Research 148 (2): 333–46. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(78)90723-0. PMID 656937.
  11. ↑ Döhler, K.D.; Coquelin, A.; Davis, F.; Hines, M.; Shryne, J.E.; Gorski, R.A. (Jun 8, 1984). "Pre- and postnatal influence of testosterone propionate and diethylstilbestrol on differentiation of the sexually dimorphic nucleus of the preoptic area in male and female rats.". Brain Research 302 (2): 291–5. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(84)90242-7. PMID 6733514.
  12. ↑ Koutcherov, Y.; Paxinos, G.; Mai, J.K. (Jul 20, 2007). "Organization of the human medial preoptic nucleus.". The Journal of comparative neurology 503 (3): 392–406. doi:10.1002/cne.21355. PMID 17503490.
  13. ↑ Garcia-Falgueras, A.; Swaab, D.F. (Dec 2008). "A sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate nucleus: relationship to gender identity.". Brain : a journal of neurology 131 (Pt 12): 3132–46. doi:10.1093/brain/awn276. PMID 18980961.
  14. ↑ Kay Brown (2010), "the Incredible Shrinking Brain"