Can We Trace the Human Pathway?

In rodents, physical pathways have been identified between sensory circuits and hypothalamic circuits that affect sexual behavior. Comparable human pathways may exist, but they would likely operate within wider functional networks. The proposed route may involve auditory sex cues entering limbic and hypothalamic systems, with possible hubs including the MGN, amygdala, BNST, and hypothalamic nuclei.

These physical pathways may be parts of broader systems involving motivation, attention, memory, emotion, and context. The hypothesis therefore invites imaging, developmental, comparative, and genetic approaches. Finding such a pathway would not by itself explain attraction, orientation, identity, or sexual behavior as a whole. The first question is whether the pathway can be found and tested.