Sexual orientation and steroid hormones in relation to sexually polymorphic cognition

Sexual orientation is sometimes correlated to sexually polymorphic cognitive performance. Furthermore, hormones also modulate cognitive performance that may differ according to sexual orientation. Our study explores potential differences in cognitive performance and hormone levels across a diversity of sexual orientations that include sexually diverse (SD) people and those who identify as heterosexual. Participants were 332 healthy cisgender adults, who identified as SD women (n = 79), heterosexual women (n = 81), SD men (n = 81), and heterosexual men (n = 91). During the protocol, eight cognitive tasks were performed, and three saliva samples were collected at three time points to measure the levels of estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and cortisol. Socio-demographic questionnaires were used to measure sexual orientation and health status. Regressions controlling for key covariates revealed that sexual orientation influenced cognitive performance, particularly for women, with SD women outperforming heterosexual women on Digit Span, Judgment Line Orientation, and Purdue Pegboard tasks. In men, sexual orientation influenced cognitive performance on Digit Span, with heterosexual men outperforming SD men, but with SD men outperforming heterosexual men on the California Verbal Learning Test. Sexual orientation was also a significant predictor for DHEA levels in women, with SD women showing higher levels. Based on these results, sexual orientation appears to influence cognitive performance between SD and heterosexual individuals, but also DHEA levels between SD and heterosexual women.