How has sexual and gender diversity evolved in neuroscience research these past years? What is the impact of this development on LGBTQIA+ communities? This is what Dr. Jhon Alexander Moreno, director of the Innovation, Technology and Cognition laboratory (INTECOG), clinical researcher associated with CRIUGM and associate professor in the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at the University of Montreal, sought to analyze. Under his leadership, a team of researchers who specialize in this topic wrote an article presenting key elements to provide a historical portrait of the neuroscientific foundations of sexual and gender diversity. Dr. Alexander Moreno and his research team composed of Dr. Riccardo Manca (Italy), Dr. Lucas Albrechet-Souza (United States), Professor Juan A. Nel (South Africa), Dr. Robert-Paul Juster (Canada) and two students* thus carried out bibliographical research of scientific publications over a century.
Throughout the history of neuroscience, many theories and different perceptions of LGBTQIA+ communities as well as different causes of homosexuality have been suggested. The socio-political climate of different eras and its fluctuations have affected the understanding of sexual and gender diversity, which has had a great impact on the nature of this research. Research on sexual and gender diversity in the field of neuroscience has grown since its beginnings in 1917, the year the first publication on the subject was identified. At that time, homosexuality was considered a psychiatric disorder. It would remain as such until 1973 when homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in light of the evolution of social and scientific theories on sexual orientation. Indeed, studies prior to 1973 focused on the association between sexual diversity, psychopathology, and brain structures. However, until the late 1970s, the majority of researchers continued to focus on a psychopathological explanation of sexual and gender diversity to determine its causes, still influenced by their beliefs, prejudices and a negative perception of society on the subject.
Between the 1970s and the 1990s, many techniques were used in research to ascertain the causes of sexual and gender diversity. During these years, neurochemical studies multiplied and focused, for example, on the role of hormones in homosexuality. Electroencephalography and brain imaging techniques were also being developed and allowed the general functioning of the brain to be explored. Scientists then sought to study the differences between the brain regions of sexual and gender diverse individuals, cisgender people, and heterosexual people. From that point, the anatomical, hormonal and even neuropsychological differences noted gave rise to various theories and hypotheses according to which sexual and gender diversity would be solely of biological origin. During the 1980s, more integrative theories began to appear, classifying sexual orientation as a more complex phenomenon determined by genetic, hormonal or social variables, for example.
It was from the 1990s onwards that neuroscience experienced a peak in scientific publications on the issue of sexual and gender diversity. Neuroscience then positioned itself as a distinct field from psychiatry, allowing for a less pathologizing analysis of data on sexual and gender diversity. This is the case, for example, of neurorehabilitation approaches that focus on the needs of people from sexual and gender diversity who have suffered brain injuries or are living with diseases of neurological origin. During this period, the specific study of the divergences in the brain of people from LGBTQIA+ communities has not ceased and continues to this day.
During the 2000s, the scientific community recognized that interpretations with a single cause do not allow to effectively explain the complexity of sexual and gender diversity. It therefore called for a multidisciplinary integration of research results to achieve a more global understanding of the issue. A change of perspective was taking place in research that became interested in documenting, for example, the negative impacts of discrimination on the health of people from LGBTQIA+ communities and on disparities in access to health care. In 2018, gender identity disorder as diagnosis was removed from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD).
In some countries, sexual and gender diversity is still seen as a pathology. This view causes many negative consequences on research and on the lives of LGBTQIA+ people. The same applies to societies where sexual and gender diversity is viewed positively, but LGBTQIA+ people still encounter a persistent hetero-cisnormative and narrow-minded perspective in certain social environments. In addition, the research team notes a lack of studies on lesbian, bisexual, and intersex people in the field of neuroscience. As discrimination and prejudice continue, affirmative approaches and intersectionality remain necessary in the research process knowing that LGBTQIA+ people still face health inequalities. The authors suggest that future studies focus on how stigmatization of LGBTQIA+ people may impact their brains, rather than trying to find the origins of sexual and gender diversity. Working on this aspect in the research environment will help demonstrate the importance of having safe and open spaces for people of all identities.
*Students
Zindi Venter
Université d’Afrique du Sud
Ioannis Spantidakis
Scientific College of Greece
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A brief historic overview of sexual and gender diversity in neuroscience: past, present, and future
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience