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Dragan WŁ, Folkierska-Żukowska M. The Biodevelopment of Sexual Orientation: Beyond the Known Horizon. Arch Sex Behav 2023; 52:2993-2999. [PMID: 36575267 PMCID: PMC10684402 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-022-02506-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 12/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Wojciech Ł Dragan
- Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena Str 6, 30-060, Kraków, Poland.
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VanderLaan DP, Skorska MN, Peragine DE, Coome LA. Carving the Biodevelopment of Same-Sex Sexual Orientation at Its Joints. Arch Sex Behav 2023; 52:2939-2962. [PMID: 35960401 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-022-02360-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Sexual orientation is a core aspect of human experience and understanding its development is fundamental to psychology as a scientific discipline. Biological perspectives have played an important role in uncovering the processes that contribute to sexual orientation development. Research in this field has relied on a variety of populations, including community, clinical, and cross-cultural samples, and has commonly focused on female gynephilia (i.e., female sexual attraction to adult females) and male androphilia (i.e., male sexual attraction to adult males). Genetic, hormonal, and immunological processes all appear to influence sexual orientation. Consistent with biological perspectives, there are sexual orientation differences in brain development and evidence indicates that similar biological influences apply across cultures. An outstanding question in the field is whether the hypothesized biological influences are all part of the same process or represent different developmental pathways leading to same-sex sexual orientation. Some studies indicate that same-sex sexually oriented people can be divided into subgroups who likely experienced different biological influences. Consideration of gender expression in addition to sexual orientation might help delineate such subgroups. Thus, future research on the possible existence of such subgroups could prove to be valuable for uncovering the biological development of sexual orientation. Recommendations for such future research are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doug P VanderLaan
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada.
- Child and Youth Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Malvina N Skorska
- Child and Youth Psychiatry, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Diana E Peragine
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada
| | - Lindsay A Coome
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Road, Mississauga, ON, L5L 1C6, Canada
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Rinaldi A. I was born this way: New research confirms that a mix of prenatal factors and genetic differences could explain human sexual orientation: New research confirms that a mix of prenatal factors and genetic differences could explain human sexual orientation. EMBO Rep 2022; 23:e55290. [PMID: 35575021 PMCID: PMC9171406 DOI: 10.15252/embr.202255290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Homosexuality has been a constant throughout human evolution and civilization, and yet, science has been slow to look at the causes of sexual preferences.
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Jonason PK, Luoto S. The dark side of the rainbow: Homosexuals and bisexuals have higher Dark Triad traits than heterosexuals. Personality and Individual Differences 2021; 181:111040. [DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2021.111040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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Blanchard R. Estimation of the Fraternal Birth Order Effect in the UK Biobank Data Reported by Abé et al. (2021). Arch Sex Behav 2021; 50:1853-1858. [PMID: 34014431 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-02041-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Ray Blanchard
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5T 1R8, Canada.
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Abstract
Psychological sex differences have been studied scientifically for more than a century, yet linguists still debate about the existence, magnitude, and causes of such differences in language use. Advances in psychology and cognitive neuroscience have shown the importance of sex and sexual orientation for various psychobehavioural traits, but the extent to which such differences manifest in language use is largely unexplored. Using computerised text analysis (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count: LIWC 2015), this study found substantial psycholinguistic sexual dimorphism in a large corpus of English-language novels (n = 304) by heterosexual authors. The psycholinguistic sex differences largely aligned with known psychological sex differences, such as empathising–systemising, people–things orientation, and men’s more pronounced spatial cognitive styles and abilities. Furthermore, consistent with predictions from cognitive neuroscience, novels (n = 158) by lesbian authors showed minor signs of psycholinguistic masculinisation, while novels (n = 167) by homosexual men had a female-typical psycholinguistic pattern, supporting the gender shift hypothesis of homosexuality. The findings on this large corpus of 66.9 million words indicate how psychological group differences based on sex and sexual orientation manifest in language use in two centuries of literary art.
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Affiliation(s)
- Severi Luoto
- English, Drama and Writing Studies, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.,School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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Abé C, Lebedev A, Zhang R, Jonsson L, Bergen SE, Ingvar M, Landén M, Rahman Q. Cross-sex shifts in two brain imaging phenotypes and their relation to polygenic scores for same-sex sexual behavior: A study of 18,645 individuals from the UK Biobank. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:2292-2304. [PMID: 33635603 PMCID: PMC8046142 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Revised: 01/07/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetic and hormonal factors have been suggested to influence human sexual orientation. Previous studied proposed brain differences related to sexual orientation and that these follow cross-sex shifted patterns. However, the neurobiological correlates of sexual orientation and how genetic factors relate to brain structural variation remains largely unexplored. Using the largest neuroimaging-genetics dataset available on same-sex sexual behavior (SSB) (n = 18,645), we employed a data-driven multivariate classification algorithm (PLS) on magnetic resonance imaging data from two imaging modalities to extract brain covariance patterns related to sex. Through analyses of latent variables, we tested for SSB-related cross-sex shifts in such patterns. Using genotype data, polygenic scores reflecting the genetic predisposition for SSB were computed and tested for associations with neuroimaging outcomes. Patterns important for classifying between males and females were less pronounced in non-heterosexuals. Predominantly in non-heterosexual females, multivariate brain patterns as represented by latent variables were shifted toward the opposite sex. Complementary univariate analyses revealed region specific SSB-related differences in both males and females. Polygenic scores for SSB were associated with volume of lateral occipital and temporo-occipital cortices. The present large-scale study demonstrates multivariate neuroanatomical correlates of SSB, and tentatively suggests that genetic factors related to SSB may contribute to structural variation in certain brain structures. These findings support a neurobiological basis to the differences in human sexuality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Abé
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Alexander Lebedev
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ruyue Zhang
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Lina Jonsson
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Sarah E Bergen
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Martin Ingvar
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mikael Landén
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Qazi Rahman
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
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