Developmental instability is associated with neurocognitive performance in heterosexual and homosexual men, but not in women
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Volume
118
Pagination
243 - 247
DOI
10.1037/0735-7044.118.1.243
Journal
BEHAV NEUROSCI
Issue
ISSN
0735-7044
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Little is known about the neurodevelopmental nature of human cognitive abilities. This investigation presents evidence consistent with a hypothesis that interindividual and within-sex cognitive variations are associated with vulnerabilities to environmental sources of developmental stress. A large sample of healthy heterosexual and homosexual men and women (N=240) completed a series of visuospatial and verbal tests. A composite fluctuating asymmetry (FA) measure was computed from the lengths of the finger digits. In heterosexual men, higher FA scores were associated with poorer line orientation judgment; and in homosexual men, with poorer verbal fluency and perceptual speed. No associations were found in heterosexual or homosexual women. These results suggest that developmental instability is linked to neurocognitive integrity in men, but not in women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)