Biologists found a connection between sexual desire and aggression and came to the conclusion that differences in the sexual behavior of men and woman can be explained not only by certain levels of sex hormones in a man's or a woman's body, but also by other unexpected factors.
Sex and aggression are linked at the brain level only in male species, but not in female ones, according to the recent research, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
It turned out that the cells that control sexual attraction and aggression are located in females on different sides of the hypothalamus. In males, these cells are intermixed and can perform both functions, an author of the study and research fellow at the University of New York, Dayu Lin, explained.
When this part of the brain was "switched off" the males became indifferent not only to the invasive competitors in their territory, but also to any sexual activities. However, when this part of the brain was "activated," the mice started attacking all of their relatives, including the females.
Following these experiments, scientists wondered whether this connection was typical for female species as well. Using the same method, they started looking for a potential center of "aggression and sex," but failed to find any.
It turned out that the females do not have such a center, since aggression and sexual desire are controlled by two separate regions in different parts of the hypothalamus.
Lin and her colleagues argued that similar differences could be observed in the brains of men and women, a phenomenon that could explain why crimes of a sexual nature are committed almost always by men.
