Umoya05

Neurological control of human sexual behaviour: insights from lesion studies
Source: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry

We have provided the first synthesis of the literature to date examining the effects of neurological insult on human sexual behaviour, and complementary functional neuroimaging findings. Our understanding of this issue is limited and primarily based on case and small scaled studies. There is, however, considerable convergence among the available research that has enabled the identification of six key brain regions, each mediating specific aspects of human sexual behaviour. Accumulating evidence suggests that the temporal lobes are a critical region in the mediation of human sexual behaviour, with the amygdalae playing an integral role in regulating human sexual drive. This review highlights the need for further examination of the neural correlates of this fundamental and universal aspect of human life. It is hoped that this review will stimulate further research, particularly into the key brain regions we have identified to date.

Ex-Gays? A Longitudinal Study of Religiously Mediated Change in Sexual Orientation (PDF; 385 KB)
Source: American Association of Christian Counselors (via InterVarsity Press)

We report here for the first time the findings of our longitudinal study of religiously mediated sexual orientation change in a sample of men and women involved in a variety of Christian ministries affiliated under the umbrella organization Exodus International. Our findings address directly two of the most contentious and disputed questions of our day: Is change of sexual orientation, particularly change of homosexual orientation, possible at all? And is the attempt to change sexual orientation harmful? We are evangelical Christians committed to the truth-seeking activity of science. In conducting and reporting this study, we took seriously the words of one of our heroes, C. S. Lewis, who said that science produced by Christian persons would have to be “perfectly honest. Science twisted in the interests of apologetics would be sin and folly.” In that spirit, we report here at the start that the funding for this study was provided by Exodus, and that we accepted this funding pledging to Exodus that we would be reporting publicly the results of our outcome study regardless of how encouraging or embarrassing Exodus might find those results.

In this study we found empirical evidence that change of homosexual orientation is possible for some through involvement in Exodus ministries. Success took two forms. One form of success was an embrace of chastity with a reduction in prominence of homosexual desire. These persons regard themselves as having reestablished their sexual identities in some way other than their homosexual attractions. The second form of success was marked by a diminishing of homosexual attraction and an increase in heterosexual attraction, with resulting satisfactory, if not uncomplicated, heterosexual adjustment. These latter individuals regard themselves as having changed their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual. Further, we found little evidence of harm incurred as a result of the involvement of the participants in the Exodus change process.

+ InterVarsity Press website for Ex-Gays? book (with related downloads)

Learning from Adolescents to Prevent HIV and Unintended Pregnancy (PDF; 418 KB)
Source: The Guttmacher Institute
From press release:

To help adolescents in developing countries protect themselves from HIV and unintended pregnancy, policymakers in the United States and abroad must acknowledge the role that sexuality plays in the lives of young people, according to the policy recommendations drawn from a major new Guttmacher Institute study in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to an overall strengthening of education and health systems, a key focus of national government efforts should be on providing high-quality, age-appropriate sex education. To be most effective, sex education in schools should reach adolescents before they begin to have sex. Because not all adolescents stay in school, sex education should begin in early primary grades.

The long-run impact of orphanhood

Summary: This paper presents unique evidence that orphanhood matters in the long run for health and education outcomes, in a region of Northwestern Tanzania. The paper studies a sample of 718 non-orphaned children surveyed in 1991-94, who were traced and re-interviewed as adults in 2004. A large proportion, 19 percent, lost one or more parents before the age of 15 in this period, allowing the authors to assess the permanent health and education impacts of orphanhood. The analysis controls for a wide range of child and adult characteristics before orphanhood, as well as community fixed effects. The findings show that maternal orphanhood has a permanent adverse impact of 2 cm of final height attainment and one year of educational attainment. Expressing welfare in terms of consumption expenditure, the result is a gap of 8.5 percent compared with similar children whose mother survived till at least their 15th birthday.

Source: The World Bank