Dilemmas of Rawlsian Opportunity

John Rawls's repeated assertions that the basic structure of society creates profound and inevitable differences in life prospects for people born in different starting places seems to contradict his assertions that, under fair equality of opportunity, a person's life prospects would not be affected by class of origin for those similarly endowed and motivated. This seeming contradiction seems to be resolved by Rawls's apparent belief that class of origin inevitably affects motivation. This reconciliation leaves us with a very weak conception of "fair equality of opportunity." Should Rawls have advocated something stronger? Within the constraints of his theory of justice nothing stronger seems possible. Still, his theory harbors highly implausible sociological assumptions. A more plausible sociology requires us to reject distributive justice in favor of contributive justice

Data from: Multimodal MRI suggests that male homosexuality may be linked to cerebral midline structures

The neurobiology of sexual preference is often discussed in terms of cerebral sex dimorphism. Yet, our knowledge about possible cerebral differences between homosexual men (HoM), heterosexual men (HeM) and heterosexual women (HeW) are extremely limited. In the present MRI study we addressed this issue investigating measures of cerebral anatomy and function, which were previously reported to show sex difference. Specifically, we asked whether there were any signs of sex atypical cerebral dimorphism among HoM, if these were widely distributed (providing substrate for more general 'female' behavioral characteristics among HoM), or restricted to networks involved in self-referential sexual arousal. Cortical thickness (Cth), surface area (SA), subcortical structural volumes, and resting state functional connectivity were compared between 30 (HoM), 35 (HeM) and 38 (HeW). HoM displayed a significantly thicker anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), precuneus, and the left occipito-temporal cortex compared to both control groups. These differences seemed coordinated, since HoM also displayed stronger cortico-cortical covariations between these regions. Furthermore, functional connections within the default mode network, which mediates self- referential processing, and includes the ACC and precuneus were significantly weaker in HoM than HeM and HeW, whereas their functional connectivity between the thalamus and hypothalamus (important nodes for sexual behavior) was stronger. In addition to these singular features, HoM displayed 'female' characteristics, with a similar Cth in the left superior parietal and cuneus cortices as HeW, but different from HeM.\r\nThese data suggest both singular and sex atypical features and motivate further investigations of cerebral midline structures in relation to male homosexuality

Volume of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder: mega-analytic results from 37 samples in the ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group

There is limited convergence in neuroimaging investigations into volumes of subcortical brain regions in social anxiety disorder (SAD). The inconsistent findings may arise from variations in methodological approaches across studies, including sample selection based on age and clinical characteristics. The ENIGMA-Anxiety Working Group initiated a global mega-analysis to determine whether differences in subcortical volumes can be detected in adults and adolescents with SAD relative to healthy controls. Volumetric data from 37 international samples with 1115 SAD patients and 2775 controls were obtained from ENIGMA-standardized protocols for image segmentation and quality assurance. Linear mixed-effects analyses were adjusted for comparisons across seven subcortical regions in each hemisphere using family-wise error (FWE)-correction. Mixed-effects d effect sizes were calculated. In the full sample, SAD patients showed smaller bilateral putamen volume than controls (left: d = −0.077, pFWE = 0.037; right: d = −0.104, pFWE = 0.001), and a significant interaction between SAD and age was found for the left putamen (r = −0.034, pFWE = 0.045). Smaller bilateral putamen volumes (left: d = −0.141, pFWE < 0.001; right: d = −0.158, pFWE < 0.001) and larger bilateral pallidum volumes (left: d = 0.129, pFWE = 0.006; right: d = 0.099, pFWE = 0.046) were detected in adult SAD patients relative to controls, but no volumetric differences were apparent in adolescent SAD patients relative to controls. Comorbid anxiety disorders and age of SAD onset were additional determinants of SAD-related volumetric differences in subcortical regions. To conclude, subtle volumetric alterations in subcortical regions in SAD were detected. Heterogeneity in age and clinical characteristics may partly explain inconsistencies in previous findings. The association between alterations in subcortical volumes and SAD illness progression deserves further investigation, especially from adolescence into adulthood