A fascinating study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found that gay men experience similar brain changes in response to their infants to that of mothers.
According to an article in the New York Daily, homosexual men who have adopted infants through surrogacy show heightened brain activity in the amygdala similar to that of mothers.
In other words, the brains of the former become more responsive emotionally to the cues of their babies—a phenomenon previously believed to have its origins in hormonal and biological changes.
Conducted by neuropsychologist Ruth Feldman of Israel's Bar-Ilan University, the research sheds light on the debate surrounding gay adoption, which is prohibited in some U.S. states.
Under MRI scanning, both heterosexual men and mothers exhibited increased cognitive function in response to their infants, whereas gay dads who were the primary caregivers reflected the brain patterns of both mom and dad, with integrated "emotional and cognitive structures."
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