Wh00
YAY! KARATE! WH00! >D Apparently Kera wouldn't want to be kicked by either Rylla or I. Go figure skaters and insanely strong leg muscles.
Worked on sparring footwork and light sparring today in group lesson. Did Panan One (which I nearly have all of!) at Demo Team and Rylla and I were supposed to make up a skit but we didn't get all the way through it.
And. Yeah. It was fun.
Apparently Brad's coming up this week. I feel like I should be more excited about this.
I've applyied at Safeway in hopes of keeping doing karate. Going to apply at EPIC as well.
And this is an interesting article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12689293/wid/11915773?GT1=8199
The same aricle, text only, behind cut:
Research finds differences in lesbian brains
Responses to sex hormones more similar to those of heterosexual men
Associated Press
Updated: 5:00 p.m. ET May 8, 2006
WASHINGTON - Lesbians’ brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women.
An earlier study of gay men also showed their brain response was different from straight men - an even stronger difference than has now been found in lesbians.
Lesbians’ brains reacted somewhat, though not completely, like those of heterosexual men, a team of Swedish researchers said in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A year ago, the same group reported findings for gay men that showed their brain response to hormones was similar to that of heterosexual women.
Biological basis for sexual orientation?
In both cases the findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior.
“It shows sexual orientation may very well have a different basis between men and women ... this is not just a mirror image situation,” said Sandra Witelson, an expert on brain anatomy and sexual orientation at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
“The important thing is to be open to the likely situation that there are biological factors that contribute to sexual orientation,” added Witelson, who was not part of the research team.
The research team led by Ivanka Savic at the Stockholm Brain Institute had volunteers sniff chemicals derived from male and female sex hormones. These chemicals are thought to be pheromones - molecules known to trigger responses such as defense and sex in many animals.
Whether humans respond to pheromones has been debated, although in 2000 American researchers reported finding a gene that they believe directs a human pheromone receptor in the nose.
The same team reported last year on a comparison of the response of male homosexuals to heterosexual men and women. They found that the brains of gay men reacted more like those of women than of straight men.
The new study shows a similar, but weaker, relationship between the response of lesbians and straight men.
Heterosexual women found the male and female pheromones about equally pleasant, while straight men and lesbians liked the female pheromone more than the male one. Men and lesbians also found the male hormone more irritating than the female one, while straight women were more likely to be irritated by the female hormone than the male one.
All three groups rated the male hormone more familiar than the female one. Straight women found both hormones about equal in intensity, while lesbians and straight men found the male hormone more intense than the female one.
Hormones processed differently
The brains of all three groups were scanned when sniffing male and female hormones and a set of four ordinary odors. Ordinary odors were processed in the brain circuits associated with smell in all the volunteers.
In heterosexual males the male hormone was processed in the scent area but the female hormone was processed in the hypothalamus, which is related to sexual stimulation. In straight women the sexual area of the brain responded to the male hormone while the female hormone was perceived by the scent area.
In lesbians, both male and female hormones were processed the same, in the basic odor processing circuits, Savic and her team reported.
Each of the three groups of subjects included 12 healthy, unmedicated, right-handed and HIV-negative individuals.
The research was funded by the Swedish Medical Research Council, Karolinska Institute and the Wallenberg Foundation.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The article they cite in the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7791888/
[edit:]
So totally started my period as soon as I woke up today. If it weren't for my DivaCup, karate would have been impossible, what with the white Gi and the blood and the ick.
Worked on sparring footwork and light sparring today in group lesson. Did Panan One (which I nearly have all of!) at Demo Team and Rylla and I were supposed to make up a skit but we didn't get all the way through it.
And. Yeah. It was fun.
Apparently Brad's coming up this week. I feel like I should be more excited about this.
I've applyied at Safeway in hopes of keeping doing karate. Going to apply at EPIC as well.
And this is an interesting article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12689293/wid/11915773?GT1=8199
The same aricle, text only, behind cut:
Research finds differences in lesbian brains
Responses to sex hormones more similar to those of heterosexual men
Associated Press
Updated: 5:00 p.m. ET May 8, 2006
WASHINGTON - Lesbians’ brains react differently to sex hormones than those of heterosexual women.
An earlier study of gay men also showed their brain response was different from straight men - an even stronger difference than has now been found in lesbians.
Lesbians’ brains reacted somewhat, though not completely, like those of heterosexual men, a team of Swedish researchers said in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A year ago, the same group reported findings for gay men that showed their brain response to hormones was similar to that of heterosexual women.
Biological basis for sexual orientation?
In both cases the findings add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical basis and is not learned behavior.
“It shows sexual orientation may very well have a different basis between men and women ... this is not just a mirror image situation,” said Sandra Witelson, an expert on brain anatomy and sexual orientation at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.
“The important thing is to be open to the likely situation that there are biological factors that contribute to sexual orientation,” added Witelson, who was not part of the research team.
The research team led by Ivanka Savic at the Stockholm Brain Institute had volunteers sniff chemicals derived from male and female sex hormones. These chemicals are thought to be pheromones - molecules known to trigger responses such as defense and sex in many animals.
Whether humans respond to pheromones has been debated, although in 2000 American researchers reported finding a gene that they believe directs a human pheromone receptor in the nose.
The same team reported last year on a comparison of the response of male homosexuals to heterosexual men and women. They found that the brains of gay men reacted more like those of women than of straight men.
The new study shows a similar, but weaker, relationship between the response of lesbians and straight men.
Heterosexual women found the male and female pheromones about equally pleasant, while straight men and lesbians liked the female pheromone more than the male one. Men and lesbians also found the male hormone more irritating than the female one, while straight women were more likely to be irritated by the female hormone than the male one.
All three groups rated the male hormone more familiar than the female one. Straight women found both hormones about equal in intensity, while lesbians and straight men found the male hormone more intense than the female one.
Hormones processed differently
The brains of all three groups were scanned when sniffing male and female hormones and a set of four ordinary odors. Ordinary odors were processed in the brain circuits associated with smell in all the volunteers.
In heterosexual males the male hormone was processed in the scent area but the female hormone was processed in the hypothalamus, which is related to sexual stimulation. In straight women the sexual area of the brain responded to the male hormone while the female hormone was perceived by the scent area.
In lesbians, both male and female hormones were processed the same, in the basic odor processing circuits, Savic and her team reported.
Each of the three groups of subjects included 12 healthy, unmedicated, right-handed and HIV-negative individuals.
The research was funded by the Swedish Medical Research Council, Karolinska Institute and the Wallenberg Foundation.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The article they cite in the article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7791888/
[edit:]
So totally started my period as soon as I woke up today. If it weren't for my DivaCup, karate would have been impossible, what with the white Gi and the blood and the ick.