ELi5 : Which part of the brain controls sexual preference?
In: Biology
Long story short? We don’t know.
Slightly longer story: There is a region of the brain that we have been able to determine “lights up” and becomes active when we view someone we see as sexually attractive. But it only lights up in scans when viewing somebody the viewer sees as sexually attractive. Gay men and straight women both light up when they see men they view as attractive, but not when they view attractive women, even if the *know* the woman is attractive (which itself is controlled in a couple of different parts of the brain). The reverse is true for gay women and straight men. While bisexual/pansexual folks will light up that part of their brain to both genders.
So we know sexual attraction is in the brain, but not the “hows” or “whats” yet.
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