Q. Recently a friend told me that the brain has several "sex centers" but I can't find a book that describes this in language I can understand. Isn't this trying to make something that should be very simple and straight-forward rather too complex?

A. Nothing about the brain is simple and very little is straight-forward. The more I study about brain structure and function, the less simple it appears—but even more interesting. My brain's opinion is that human sexuality is likely one of the most complex in terms of brain structure and function.

To your question, this is not new information. The findings of two researchers are addressed in a book entitled "Brain Sex."

East German scientist, Dr. Gunter Dorner, described what he believed were three centers of development in the human hypothalamus:

  • sex center
  • mating center
  • gender-role center

American scientist Dr. Milton Diamond described his perception of four stages of brain development in the human hypothalamus:

  • basic sexual
  • sexual identity
  • sexual choice
  • sexual control centers

(Moir, Anne, and David Jessel. Brain Sex. p 114-116. NY:Carol Publishing Group, 1989, 1991.)