This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 205.155.216.6 (talk) at 18:38, 5 December 2006. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 18:38, 5 December 2006 by 205.155.216.6 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Simon LeVay (born 28 August 1943 in Oxford, England) is a neuroscientist and author known for his studies about brain structures and sexuality. He is also the author of a textbook on human sexuality and has coauthored books on diverse topics such as earthquakes, volcanoes, and extraterrestrial life.
Degrees:
- University of Cambridge, England (B.A., Natural Sciences, 1966)
- University of Göttingen, Germany (Ph.D., Neuroanatomy, 1971)
- Harvard Medical School (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 1972-1974)
LeVay held positions at Harvard from 1974 to 1984, after which he worked at the Salk Institute from 1984-1993. While at the Salk institute he was also Adjunct Associate Professor of Biology at University of California, San Diego.
Much of his early work looked at visual cortex in animals, especially cats.
In 1991 LeVay made news by claiming to have discovered that homosexual and heterosexual men have a difference in size in the third interstitial nuclei of the anterior hypothalamus. Some criticized the work as science by press conference, and critics have pointed out a number of concerns about the methodology, including sample size and measurement methods. LeVay has also been heavily criticised for his homosexual research sample being entirely composed of gay men whom had died of AIDS related diseases. This study has not been consistently replicated, and no consitent difference betweenthe brains of hetero- and homosexuals has been discovered. (Pinel, 2006)
Selected bibliography
- LeVay S (1993). The Sexual Brain. Cambridge: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-62093-6.
- LeVay S (1996). Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality. Cambridge: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-62119-3.
- LeVay S, Valente SM (2002. Second ed, 2005) Human Sexuality. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates. ISBN 0-7167-8676-1.
- LeVay S (1991). A difference in hypothalamic structure between homosexual and heterosexual men. Science 253:1034-1037.
Pinel, J., P., J. (2006) Biopsychology: International Edition. Boston: Pearson Educational