Sexing the Brain - Hardcover

Rogers, Lesley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231120109 ISBN 13: 9780231120104

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2001

Synopsis

How much of sexual diversity is the result of nature versus nurture? Prevailing theories today lean heavily toward nature. Now a leading researcher in neuroscience and animal behavior shows how, in recent history, scientific claims about sex and gender differences have reflected the culture of the time. Although the conviction that genetics can explain everything is now widespread, the author demonstrates the interaction of culture and environment in the formation of behavioral traits. Sexing the Brain addresses questions such as: Are there sex differences in how we think and feel? Is language processed in different parts of the brain in men and women? Do social influences have a stronger influence on sexual behavior than hormone levels? Rogers concludes that "our biology does not bind us to remain the same.... We have the ability to change, and the future of sex differences belongs to us."

About this title

About the Authors

Lesley Rogers is professor of neuroscience and animal behavior in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of New England, Australia. She is the author of five other books, including Minds of Their Own: Thinking and Awareness in Animals and Songs, Roars, and Rituals: Communication in Birds, Mammals and Other Animals (with Gisela Kaplan).

Reviews

Rogers, a professor of neuroscience and animal behavior at the University of New England (Australia), argues that the scientific basis for genetic explanations of sexual differentiation is shaky. She traces the history of thought regarding sexual differences, summarizes the latest techniques used to study such differences, and discusses factors that might account for sexual differentiation. While highly critical of simplistic explanations of sex differences in brain structure and function, Rogers urges scientists to develop well-controlled experiments that consider the complex set of social events that can affect behavior. Experience, the author believes, can alter the biology of the brain. An individual's development, moreover, is a complex interweaving of genetic, hormonal, and environmental processes. Rogers challenges claims for the existence of a "gay gene" and the ambiguous evidence pointing to sexual differences in brain lateralization. Her feminist perspective will undoubtedly raise hackles, especially when she suggests that politicians may use dubious scientific interpretation to justify social policies maintaining inequality. Appropriate for academic and large public libraries.DLaurie Bartolini, Illinois State Lib., Springfield
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0231120109
• ISBN 13: 9780231120104
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 152