Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

The Sexual Brain

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Cover artist
  
Jean Wilcox

Pages
  
168

Originally published
  
1993

Page count
  
168

3.6/5
Goodreads

Language
  
English

ISBN
  
978-0585002996

Author
  
Simon LeVay

Country
  
United States of America

The Sexual Brain t1gstaticcomimagesqtbnANd9GcRjmS8lCYN1PxQbk3

Subject
  
Human brain, human sexuality

Media type
  
Print (Hardcover and Paperback)

Similar
  
Simon LeVay books, Brain books

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. The book received positive reviews, praising it as a well-written work on science.

Contents

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.

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". 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. 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. LeVay compares homosexuality to the disease sickle cell anemia, arguing that it may have persisted through a similar genetic mechanism.

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.

Mainstream media

The Sexual Brain was reviewed by journalist Peter Gorner in the Chicago Tribune, Kenneth McLeish in The Independent, Marian Annett in the Times Higher Education Supplement, critic Michael Warner in The Village Voice, and psychologist Richard Gregory in The Times Literary Supplement. It also received a review in Publishers Weekly, and two reviews in New Statesman and Society, one from Peter Tallack, and the other from David Fernbach.

Gorner, McLeish, and Gregory's reviews were positive. Gorner called The Sexual Brain "Elegantly, even wittily, written" and crediting LeVay with merging "evolutionary theory, endocrinology, molecular genetics and cognitive psychology into a synthesis that is brilliant and entertaining." Gregory wrote that the book "is very carefully written, with clear logical threads" and "the statement of a first-rate scientist on issues of personal and social importance". McLeish praised LeVay for his criticism of Freud, calling it "splendidly rude", and for outlining the "current state of knowledge and research on the neurobiology of sexuality" in a "lucid, friendly and comprehensible" style. However, McLeish also wrote that LeVay's "arguments for and about homosexuality become a touch obsessive."

Gay media

The Sexual Brain was reviewed by physician Lawrence D. Mass in The Advocate.

Scientific and academic journals

The Sexual Brain was reviewed by Katherine Livingston in Science, Robert Friar in the Journal of Sex Research, biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling in BioScience, psychologist Leonore Tiefer in Psychology of Women Quarterly, and Michael J. Baum in Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Friar's review was positive, crediting LeVay with "superb writing skills" and "comprehensive knowledge of neurobiology", and calling his book "concise, thoughtful, informative" and "interesting". However, Friar criticized LeVay for giving insufficient attention to lesbianism, for the lack of illustrations in his book, and for using references sparingly.

Fausto-Sterling gave The Sexual Brain a mixed review. She called the book "engagingly and clearly written, potentially appropriate for classroom use." However, Fausto-Sterling also described LeVay's views on gender differences as being part of a "standard litany", and found that LeVay's accounts of reproductive physiology and the brain became "progressively weaker" as he moved further away from the familiar territory of neurobiology. Fausto-Sterling considered LeVay's account of "the embryonic development of gonads and genitalia" an example of this weakness, describing it as "extremely unsophisticated", and accusing LeVay of making inaccurate claims. She criticized LeVay for repeating the widespread belief "that female development is passive and preprogrammed ... and male development active", and for failing to cite critiques of that viewpoint. She gave LeVay credit for bringing "a wider range of evidence to bear in examining the interactions among hormones, the brain, and behavior" and citing less well-known work on this topic, and praised "LeVay's courage in declaring his own gay identity", and called his treatment of the relevance of biology to homosexuality "appropriately cautious".

Evaluations in books

Biologist Steven Rose criticized the publicity that surrounded the publication of The Sexual Brain, arguing that LeVay, like other researchers such as Dean Hamer, over-stated the importance of his findings. Bruce Thornton questioned the value of LeVay's work, writing that while LeVay asserted that the future would bring progress in understanding the development of sexuality, this begs "the question of just how much good this knowledge will bring us when we are storm-tossed on the sea of eros." Psychiatrist and medical historian Vernon Rosario argued that LeVay shows, "biological-determinist as well as reductionist inclinations". Philosopher Edward Stein, writing in The Mismeasure of Desire (1999), criticized LeVay for failing to discuss social constructionism despite its relevance to his topic. Anthropologist Melvin Konner wrote 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 sexual arousal and associated behaviors.

Louis A. Berman argued that LeVay erroneously minimizes the role of experience in becoming an effective male partner in heterosexual intercourse.

References

The Sexual Brain Wikipedia