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Gay dads' brains show activity akin to both parents': study

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Gay dads' brains show activity akin to both parents': study | Reuters

(Reuters) - Having a baby alters new mothers' brain activity, researchers have found, and a new study adds the first evidence of such changes in the brains of gay men raising children they adopted through surrogacy.

The men's pattern of brain activity resembles that of both new mothers and new fathers in the study.

The 48 gay fathers raising children with their husbands seemed to be both mom and dad, brain-wise. Their emotional circuits were as active as those of mothers and the interpretive circuits showed the same extra activity as that of heterosexual fathers'.

One clue: in gay fathers, but not heterosexual ones, the brain also had extra communication lines between emotional and cognitive structures. The more time a man spent as primary caregiver, the greater the connectivity. It was as if playing both parental roles caused the brain to integrate the structures required for each.


This article makes the claim that "gay men" are more attuned parents than either sex of the heterosexual alone. Interesting?
 
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This article makes the claim that "gay men" are more in-tuned parents than either sex of the heterosexual alone. Interesting?

To be fair, the article's exact words were that changes in gay men "resemble" changes in heterosexuals of both sexes, not that they were necessarily better or more "attuned" parents. I would be curious to see if the adaption in any one direction is as strong as it would be in a heterosexual, or if it's not more of compromise between the two.
 
To be fair, the article's exact words were that changes in gay men "resemble" changes in heterosexuals of both sexes, not that they were necessarily better or more "attuned" parents. I would be curious to see if the adaption in any one direction is as strong as it would be in a heterosexual, or if it's not more of compromise between the two.

Well, I thought the same if the study would apply to heterosexual singles but it sort of excludes that possibility by saying...

"Their emotional circuits were as active as those of mothers and the interpretive circuits showed the same extra activity as that of heterosexual fathers."

They appeared to have the abilities of both parents?

BTW thanks for the word correction on attuned.
 
To be fair, the article's exact words were that changes in gay men "resemble" changes in heterosexuals of both sexes, not that they were necessarily better or more "attuned" parents. I would be curious to see if the adaption in any one direction is as strong as it would be in a heterosexual, or if it's not more of compromise between the two.

From the article, it is superior to heterosexual fathers.
 
It's an interesting study. I'd like to see more extensive research done, a wider pool of assessment, etc.

It sounds logical, so we'll see.
 
Well, I thought the same if the study would apply to heterosexual singles but it sort of excludes that possibility by saying...

"Their emotional circuits were as active as those of mothers and the interpretive circuits showed the same extra activity as that of heterosexual fathers."

They appeared to have the abilities of both parents?

BTW thanks for the word correction on attuned.

Perhaps. I'd just like to see the actual numbers.

It's rather vague right now. Media articles reporting on scientific phenomena also have something of a tendency to get a lot of things wrong in this regard as they're more interested in attracting viewers with attention grabbing language than they are in the specific details of the findings involved.
 
Perhaps. I'd just like to see the actual numbers.

It's rather vague right now. Media articles reporting on scientific phenomena also have something of a tendency to get a lot of things wrong in this regard as they're more interested in attracting viewers with attention grabbing language than they are in the specific details of the findings involved.


I remember an episode of "Friends", where Rachel and Ross were looking for a Nanny to take care of their baby. They found a really sensitive guy (hetero?) that was like a 'super baby sitter'. The whole episode sort of revolved around how attuned this guy was to a babies needs and even an adults...lol

He was more than a Nanny, he was a "Manny". :lol:
 
Well, it seems to me that one of the best ways to test their theory is by doing the same testing on single moms. As for the hormonal vs hand-on experience in determining the brain activity that they see, my guess would be not strongly either, but more likely a difference in emotional make-up accounting for it, with the other two factors taking a secondary role. Hormones may have a role in it, but I think it's probably more complicated than that.
 
This article makes the claim that "gay men" are more attuned parents than either sex of the heterosexual alone. Interesting?

I had seen studies a few years ago that showed that a homosexual uncle in the family increases the probability of a child's survival to adulthood.
 
Bleh. Id be bullied and shunned even more than I already am if I had two gay parents. I'm sure they'd be capable parents, but until the stigma is gone heterosexual parents are the better alternative (in my opinion).
 
Perhaps. I'd just like to see the actual numbers.

It's rather vague right now. Media articles reporting on scientific phenomena also have something of a tendency to get a lot of things wrong in this regard as they're more interested in attracting viewers with attention grabbing language than they are in the specific details of the findings involved.

Also in our convoluted and high pressure 'publish or perish' world, it is getting tougher and tougher for the ever increasing number of advanced degree candidates to find something new and unique as the topic of their dissertations or to be published in a scholarly journal. As a result they are really streeeeeeetching for subject matter. And it doesn't matter how small the sample used or what the researcher's conclusion is, it seems to pass for science these days.

I remain convinced that gay parents can be very good parents and sometimes living with gay parents is the best situation for the child. And I will continue to be convinced that there is far more scientific study and evidence to show that children overall thrive best with a loving male AND female role model in the home than in any other circumstance. And the traditional family should be encouraged, supported, and considered the norm for that reason.
 
I had seen studies a few years ago that showed that a homosexual uncle in the family increases the probability of a child's survival to adulthood.

How could that possibly even begin to bear out any truth? The "gay-Uncle" has been thoroughly debunked as utter nonsense.

Tim-
 
Also in our convoluted and high pressure 'publish or perish' world, it is getting tougher and tougher for the ever increasing number of advanced degree candidates to find something new and unique as the topic of their dissertations or to be published in a scholarly journal. As a result they are really streeeeeeetching for subject matter. And it doesn't matter how small the sample used or what the researcher's conclusion is, it seems to pass for science these days.

I remain convinced that gay parents can be very good parents and sometimes living with gay parents is the best situation for the child. And I will continue to be convinced that there is far more scientific study and evidence to show that children overall thrive best with a loving male AND female role model in the home than in any other circumstance. And the traditional family should be encouraged, supported, and considered the norm for that reason.


This is my opinion almost to a tee. Careful though, it's not enough to be reasonable on the subject.

Tim-
 
As to this study... In my experience on this subject (Brain science) when men and or women for that matter take on opposite gender roles, the brain patterns almost always tend to mimic each other, both heterosexually and homosexually.


The only thing you can conclude from any study of this primitive nature is that our brains appear to be born to adapt. ;)


What I find striking from this study and any like it though is that these social researchers aren't doing themselves any favors, because showing adaptability whether emotionally or sexually adds to the environmental causation argument for sexuality. I'd like to see this done on young adults without children to compare data.


Tim-
 
I remember an episode of "Friends", where Rachel and Ross were looking for a Nanny to take care of their baby. They found a really sensitive guy (hetero?) that was like a 'super baby sitter'. The whole episode sort of revolved around how attuned this guy was to a babies needs and even an adults...lol

He was more than a Nanny, he was a "Manny". :lol:

Rachel was hot for him, if I remember that episode right. Freddie Prinze Junior played the nanny. I don't think he was gay.
 
Rachel was hot for him, if I remember that episode right. Freddie Prinze Junior played the nanny. I don't think he was gay.

Actually, she wasn't. Ross was simply jealous of him because he thought that she would be hot for him given that he was a guy. She pointed out that the same could work the opposite way. She honestly just wanted him to be a nanny for Emma. (I think he mentioned a girlfriend, but I'm not sure.)
 
They should have tested stay at home hetero guys to make the study more complete.
 
I really wonder how one goes about comparing brain activity. And not only that, but does similar "brain activity" correspond to the same cognitive experience?

All that aside, let's suppose that this is indeed true. If carried out to it's logical conclusion, could one then devise a test for males for homosexuality?

Interesting.
 
How could that possibly even begin to bear out any truth? The "gay-Uncle" has been thoroughly debunked as utter nonsense. Tim-
I had seen studies a few years ago that showed that a homosexual uncle in the family increases the probability of a child's survival to adulthood.
FYI on the 'gay uncle' to everyone else:

Assume humans were hunter & gathers that lived in small groups of 100-150 people at some point in our history. During that pre-modern medical era, child mortality rates are 40%+ and thus require the nomadic kin groups to produce large numbers of offspring per fertile couple. This requirement causes the group's age to be weighted towards children. The weighting primarily affects the groups' ability to gather food, defend itself from dangers, move through its territory; i.e. survive, due to the large amounts of needy children.

Suppose then that there is a biological/environmental tendency, eh, 1/20th of the time, to produce a smaller group of individuals that never reproduces. These individuals do not dedicate themselves to child rearing, but rather are open to engage in the activities that the parents/elders of the group cannot handle. They tilt the group's age back towards capable adults. Thus kin groups with this ability to produce non-reproducing individuals have a better chance of flourishing and surviving.

It's a theory.
 
I remember an episode of "Friends", where Rachel and Ross were looking for a Nanny to take care of their baby. They found a really sensitive guy (hetero?) that was like a 'super baby sitter'. The whole episode sort of revolved around how attuned this guy was to a babies needs and even an adults...lol

He was more than a Nanny, he was a "Manny". :lol:

Found it on Friends Wiki:

Ross and Rachel are looking for a new nanny and Ross is surprised when a male nanny named Sandy has applied. Rachel loves him and despite Ross being uncomfortable with it, allows her to hire him. Sandy is shown to be overly sensitive, crying after they hire him and crying with Rachel when he explains how he propsed to his fiance. He also plays the flute and holds puppet shows. Joey also takes a liking to him. Ross eventually fires him because he's too sensitive but ends up confiding in him after explaining how his dad was tough on him as a kid for playing with dinosaurs instead of sports.



But even better, I found this. Did you know there is a website where you can find a "manny" in NYC?

NYC Mannies
 
Also in our convoluted and high pressure 'publish or perish' world, it is getting tougher and tougher for the ever increasing number of advanced degree candidates to find something new and unique as the topic of their dissertations or to be published in a scholarly journal. As a result they are really streeeeeeetching for subject matter. And it doesn't matter how small the sample used or what the researcher's conclusion is, it seems to pass for science these days.

I remain convinced that gay parents can be very good parents and sometimes living with gay parents is the best situation for the child. And I will continue to be convinced that there is far more scientific study and evidence to show that children overall thrive best with a loving male AND female role model in the home than in any other circumstance. And the traditional family should be encouraged, supported, and considered the norm for that reason.

Except this isn't true. There is no research that shows that having both a male and female role model in the house, specifically as the parents, cause children to be better.

In fact, traditional families would truly be an extended family where many familial role models of both sexes, from either or both sides of the family (either parent) interact with the child/children by living in the house or nearby. This is how my family was raised, with relatives nearby or living with us, and we saw most of them every single day (many of my first cousins I am as close to as siblings). My own sons are being raised like this. They have had an aunt or an uncle living with them for most of their 5-6 years, and other relatives come into and out of their lives, even with two active duty assignments of their parents (one for me when first son born, then last 3 1/2 years for husband). This makes twice now that their grandparents have lived close enough for them to walk to their home. If we set up for/were more friendly to this type of family, the extended family, instead of just the "nuclear family" (which is what people want to claim is the "traditional family"), then there would be more role models in our children's lives anyway. The extended family may not be for everyone, but it is far more traditional (up until the last century or so) than the nuclear family.
 
Definitely an interesting article, but I feel it's too short, more research probably would help the case even more. It seemed devoid of something with how tiny it was when tackling so huge an "issue".
 
Here's a so called "brain" study that says gay men and heterosexual women have similarly shaped brains. Does this mean that gay men are cognitively equivalent to women?

Striking similarities between the brains of gay men and straight women have been discovered by neuroscientists, offering fresh evidence that sexual orientation is hardwired into our neural circuitry.

Scans reveal homosexual men and heterosexual women have symmetrical brains, with the right and left hemispheres almost exactly the same size. Conversely, lesbians and straight men have asymmetrical brains, with the right hemisphere significantly larger than the left.

Scientists at the prestigious Stockholm Brain Institute in Sweden also found certain brain circuits linked to emotional responses were the same in gay men and straight women.

The findings, published tomorrow in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggest the biological factors that influence sexual orientation - such as exposure to testosterone in the womb - may also shape the brain's anatomy.

The study, led by the neurobiologist Ivanka Savic, builds on previous research that has identified differences in spatial and verbal abilities related to sex and sexual orientation. Tests have found gay men and straight women fare better at certain language tasks, while heterosexual men and lesbians tend to have better spatial awareness.

Savic and her colleague Per Linström took MRI brain scans of 90 volunteers who were divided into four groups of similar ages according to whether they were male, female, heterosexual or homosexual. The scans showed the right side of the brain in heterosexual men was typically 2% larger than the left. Lesbians showed a similar asymmetry, with the right hand side of the brain 1% larger than the left.

Scans on homosexual men and heterosexual women revealed both sides of the brain were the same size.

The results could explain a University of London study earlier this year that found gay men and straight women share a poor sense of direction compared with heterosexual men, and were more likely to navigate using landmarks alone.

The right hand side of the brain dominates spatial capabilities, so may be slightly more developed in heterosexual men and lesbians. An earlier study by the same team found gay men and straight women outperformed lesbians and straight men at tasks designed to test verbal fluency.

Savic's team has yet to confirm whether the differences in brain shape are responsible for sexual orientation, or are a consequence of it. To find out, they have begun another study to investigate brain symmetry in newborn babies, to see if it can be used to predict their future sexual orientation.

"These differences might be laid down during brain development in the womb, or they could happen after birth, though it could very likely be a combination of the two," said Savic.

In another series of tests, Savic and Lindström used a technique called positron emission tomography (PET) to look at brain wiring in a smaller group of volunteers. They found heterosexual women and gay men shared brain circuitry linking a region called the amygdala, which plays a key role in emotional responses, to other parts of the brain.

The research is part of a larger effort to identify differences between the male and female brain, in the hope they will shed light on why some mental disorders affect men and women differently. For example, major depressive disorders are far more common and persistent in women, while autism is around four times more common in boys than girls.

"There's a well known uneven sex distribution in the number of psychiatric disorders and trying to understand sex differences, and differences in orientation, may give you a hint of the mechanism underlying these diseases," said Savic.

Gay men and heterosexual women have similarly shaped brains, research shows | Science | The Guardian
 
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