Genes, not just hormones, make sexes behave differently

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2007

PARIS (AFP) — Differences between males and females in behaviour are usually chalked up to sex-specific hormones, but a study released Sunday shows that genes play a critical role too.

Experiments at Yale University with mice revealed that sex chromosomes alone are enough to account for the fact that females, for example, are more likely to be creatures of habit.

The results, published in the British journal Nature, have important implications for understanding the origins of addiction, and could one day lead to treatments targeting the genes involved.

"This is the first time that any behaviour has been associated specifically with sex chromosomes independent of gonadal hormones," the study's lead author, Jennifer Quinn of Yale University, told AFP.

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