Predicting Sexual Orientation

Predicting Sexual Orientation

Brain imaging has become a wide-spread tool in Neuroscience research.  In general, imaging techniques indicate where activity is occurring in the brain.  While these techniques can lead to inferences about how stimuli are affecting the brain due to prior knowledge of localization patterns, these techniques do not produce causality results. Brain imaging has been used to help map the brain as well as predict certain diseases.  One of the most classic examples is the prediction of Alzheimer’s disease.  Alzheimer’s disease is an incurable and progressive form of dementia that leads to death and is most common amongst the elderly. Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning can detect the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s disease years before its clinical onset.  This technique involves injecting radioactive material into a patient and having that material make its way up to the brain through circulation for detection.  It measures blood flow, oxygen, and glucose metabolism with relatively good special accuracy but long measurement intervals as compared with other techniques such as Electroencephalography (EEG).

Ethical implications arise from the availability of such tests.  Individuals having prior knowledge that they are likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease would help them plan rationally for the future as well as take action to delay its onset with cognitive training.  However, knowledge that you will likely get Alzheimer’s disease may lead to pain and worry leading up to the development of the disease. Such distraught could be considered unnecessary, detrimental, and ultimately wrong. I believe that brain imaging diagnoses have ethical implications outside of disease.

This PET technology has been used to detect differences between the brains of homosexual and heterosexual men and women. In particular, images of the amygdala, a brain region associated with the processing of emotion, showed a striking similarity between homosexual men and heterosexual women and between heterosexual men and homosexual women.

Similar to Alzheimer’s disease, homosexuality can be suggested by childhood behavior before homosexuality’s theoretical “onset” at puberty when attraction takes place.  There is a “strong link between childhooddeviations from gender role norms and adult sexual orientation” and there is evidence that more of these behaviors mean greater likelihood of homosexuality.

It remains unclear as to whether these PET scans are effective in predicting the sexual orientation of prepubescent children.  Ethical consequences arise if brain imaging could predict with considerable accuracy the sexual orientation of children.

Families that know that they have a homosexual child could take steps in easing the child’s progression into puberty and adulthood.  The family could introduce the child to their country’s history with homosexuality so that the child understands the context in which the child lives.  The family could give their child a more fitting sexual education. Children who know that they will most likely be homosexuals might want to form support groups with each other at the beginning of puberty to help each other deal with their common concerns.  Finally, children who know that they are likely to be homosexuals will likely have an easier time accepting this identity instead of feeling as confused and conflicted.

Negative ramifications could also arise.  If children who are likely to be homosexual are treated differently during pre-pubescence, the family could be funneling and limiting the children’s exploration of their identity.  Many children hide their sexuality in fear of prejudice from their family.  Children might wait to inform their parents of their sexuality to secure food and shelter until they are ready to leave the home.  It’s possible that suspecting prejudiced parents could request that such testing be done. Such testing could be troubling for a child in the case that the test is a false positive or negative, making navigating feelings of attraction as a young adult very difficult.

If such testing becomes available, ethics should be strongly considered before any wide-scale distribution of the service.  I feel that such a test would be useful in helping young adults avoid some of the questioning and self-doubt that often comes with having a different orientation than straight.  I believe that such testing should only be done at the prepubescent age with some evidence that the family doesn’t have a certain level of prejudice and the child’s community has sufficient material and social resources if the family does display prejudice.

With a scientific mindset, more knowledge can seem universally good.  It’s important to remember that knowledge can cause harm if put in the wrong hands.