Objective: Redefine the concept of homosexual behavior and its neural bases, and to discuss the role of conditioning on learnt homosexual behaviors. Development: We propose a behavioral continuum in which animals and humans may display appetitive, precopulatory, consummatory or postconsummatory homosexual behaviors with variable intensity and duration. We discuss the role of brain dimorphism on sexual behavior and partner preference. In addition, we show evidence indicating that animals may display learnt social preferences that switch into homosexual preferences if they spent sufficient time of cohabitation with an individual of the same sex under the effect of dopamine type D2 agonists. Conclusion: The evidence in this article suggests that homosexual behavior may be subtle or explicit, transitory or long-lasting, as a result of the computation that results from the activity of neurocircuitries organized by hormones during perinatal periods and by learning during later periods of life.
展开▼
