Michael, Michael- Is that your criticism or just "a criticism"? In his own words (as best I can remember), "I did not prove that homosexuality is genetic, or find a genetic cause for being gay." When did he show differences in the CC? I read the research he published on differences in INAH3 (a structure in the hypothalamus) in men vs women and gay men. What pronouncements are you referencing? I've always found him to be a careful researcher and scientist- one not prone to making pronouncements. But I think you already know this (assuming you read Stephen Black's posts)
Extracted from a discussion thread on a TIPS: Re: Determinism and the Corpus Callosum Stephen Black Tue, 04 Apr 2006 08:26:51 -0700 "Michael Sylvester was challenged about his remark of "talk" of an association between the corpus callosum and sexual orientation. He was asked for a reference. He replied: > It either came from LeVay or check out a Brain/Mind video I thought this was interesting, so I looked into it. There is no published work, as far as I can find, on the corpus callosum and sexual orientation. However, Allen and Gorski (1992) did report that the anterior commissure was larger in homosexual than in heterosexual men. The anterior commissure is a bundle of nerve fibers which, like the corpus callosum, connects the two hemispheres of the brain. However, it's smaller than the corpus callosum and deeper within the brain. Its function is largely unknown. So the claim is close, but no cigar. Curiously, though, if the claim is googled rather than pubmedded, references to such a finding by (yes) the neurophysiologist Simon LeVay and the neuropsychologist Sandra Witelson turn up. For example, LeVay is described in an article by Chandler Burr in the _The Atlantic Monthly_ in March, 1993 as carrying out an MRI study of the corpus callosum and sexual orientation. Some reports are even more specific. An article at the gayline website (http://www.gayline.gen.nz/natural.htm) says that LeVay discovered that the corpus callosum "was bigger in gays than straight men". Since I could find no such study, I went right to the top, and wrote to Dr. LeVay. Through the magic of the Internet, he replied almost immediately. He said he never made any such discovery and never published on the topic. He did say that at one time he worked on an MRI study, as reported by Burr, but they didn't obtain any clear results and didn't publish it." There is more but in the interest of bandwidth. . . Tim _______________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Psychology The College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 83605 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history and systems "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." Dorothy Parker -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wed 11/12/2008 10:52 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Simon Levay A criticism of Simon Levay is that he may be biased re the genetic basis of gay behavior because he is gay himself.And that his pronouncement of differences in the corpus callosum of gay men may be more fiction than fact.And even though a difference is accepted,there is there still the argument of whether this difference exists at birth or is it the result of constantly doing one another.After all behavior can change the structure and chemistry of the brain. Michael Sylvester,PhD Daytona Beach,Florida --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
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