The Sexual Brain

The Sexual Brain

Cover of the first edition
Author Simon LeVay
Cover artist Jean Wilcox
Country United States
Language English
Subject Human brain, human sexuality
Published 1993 (MIT Press)
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages 168
ISBN 978-0585002996

The Sexual Brain is a 1993 book by neuroscientist Simon LeVay, in which LeVay discusses brain mechanisms involved in sexual behavior and feelings, and related topics such as sexual orientation.[1] The book received a mixture of praise and criticism.

Summary

LeVay writes that his aim is to focus "on the brain mechanisms that are responsible for sexual behavior and feelings"; he discusses sexual orientation among other topics such as the evolutionary basis of sex, sexual development, the organization and development of the brain, the neural mechanisms associated with sexual intercourse, gender differences, and gender identity. LeVay expresses skepticism about the work of Sigmund Freud, writing that while he once accepted the Freudian view that "a young child's relations with his or her parents play a decisive role" in the development of sexual orientation, he rejected it after he came to know large numbers of gay men and lesbian women. LeVay writes that he doubts that there is anything scientific about Freud's ideas.[2]

He describes the functions of the hypothalamus, which plays a key role in, "sex, feeding, drinking, cardiovascular performance, control of body temperature, stress, emotional responses, growth, and many other functions".[3] He claims, on the basis of post-mortem studies of gay men who died of AIDS, to have located a region of the brain that differs in gay and straight men.[4] LeVay notes that his INAH 3 study was his only publication on sex to that date, and that most of his previous research had been on the visual areas of the cerebral cortex.[5] LeVay compares homosexuality to the disease sickle cell anemia, arguing that it may have persisted through a similar genetic mechanism.[6]

Discussing sexual intercourse, LeVay describes the reflexes that constitute the act of coitus in humans, and notes that orgasm triggers the massive release of an opiate-like hormone, oxytocin, from the pituitary gland.[7]

Reception

Journalist Peter Gorner writes in the Chicago Tribune that The Sexual Brain is "Elegantly, even wittily, written" and that LeVay "merges evolutionary theory, endocrinology, molecular genetics and cognitive psychology into a synthesis that is brilliant and entertaining."[8] Biologist Steven Rose criticizes the publicity that surrounded the publication of The Sexual Brain, arguing that LeVay over-stated the importance of his findings. He finds LeVay's behavior to be similar to that of other researchers such as Dean Hamer.[4] Psychiatrist and medical historian Vernon Rosario argues that LeVay shows, "biological-determinist as well as reductionist inclinations".[9] Philosopher Edward Stein criticizes LeVay in The Mismeasure of Desire (1999), writing that LeVay fails to discuss social constructionism, even though it is relevant to the subject matter of The Sexual Brain.[10]

Anthropologist Melvin Konner writes that The Sexual Brain is an "excellent brief introduction to the biology of gender" and "makes a graceful, excellent starting point" for understanding the neuroscience of lust.[11] Louis A. Berman writes that LeVay erroneously minimizes the role of experience in becoming an effective male partner in heterosexual intercourse.[12]

See also

References

Bibliography

Books
  • Berman, Louis A. (2003). The Puzzle: Exploring the Evolutionary Puzzle of Male Homosexuality. Wilmette, Illinois: Godot Press. ISBN 0-9723013-1-3. 
  • Konner, Melvin (2002). The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-7167-4602-6. 
  • LeVay, Simon (1993). The Sexual Brain. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-12178-6. 
  • Rosario, Vernon A. (1997). Rosario, Vernon A., ed. Science and Homosexualities. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-91502-3. 
  • Rose, Steven (1997). Lifelines: Biology, Freedom, Determinism. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 0-713-99157-7. 
  • Stein, Edward (1999). The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514244-6. 
Online articles
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