Wednesday, January 30, 2008
seual dimorphic nuecleus Schwaab
D. F. Swaab and M. A. Hofman, (1990), "An Enlarged Suprachiasmatic Nucleus in Homosexual Men", Brain Research, vol. 537, pages 141-148.
Research inflames gay lobby from Andrew Baxter in The Times Higher Education Supplement, 17th. March, 1989. "Brain research purporting to show a possible biological basis for homosexuality has sparked off a controversy in the Netherlands in which the causes of academic freedom and gay emancipation have clashed. Neurobiologist Professor D. F. Swaab of the University of Amsterdam recently found that part of the hypothalamus was larger in the brains of a group of homosexual men than in the brains of a control group. Professor Swaab, who is also director of the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, suggested in a pre-publication press interview that this enlargement might represent a physiological difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals and constitute evidence for a biological rather than social basis for homosexuality. The brains which exhibited the enlargement were from 15 deceased Aids victims, all homosexual men. The brains with which these were compared were from some 150 patients who had died of dementia (predominantly as a result of Alzheimer's discease)."
"However, Professor Rob Tielman, professor of humanistic ethics at the University of Utrecht and director of the gay studies programme there, said: 'I'm totally against any a priori ban on particular lines of research but Swaab has simply not given any thought to the consequences of his findings. I believe the responsibility to do so is the other side of the coin of academic freedom'."
Research inflames gay lobby from Andrew Baxter in The Times Higher Education Supplement, 17th. March, 1989. "Brain research purporting to show a possible biological basis for homosexuality has sparked off a controversy in the Netherlands in which the causes of academic freedom and gay emancipation have clashed. Neurobiologist Professor D. F. Swaab of the University of Amsterdam recently found that part of the hypothalamus was larger in the brains of a group of homosexual men than in the brains of a control group. Professor Swaab, who is also director of the Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, suggested in a pre-publication press interview that this enlargement might represent a physiological difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals and constitute evidence for a biological rather than social basis for homosexuality. The brains which exhibited the enlargement were from 15 deceased Aids victims, all homosexual men. The brains with which these were compared were from some 150 patients who had died of dementia (predominantly as a result of Alzheimer's discease)."
"However, Professor Rob Tielman, professor of humanistic ethics at the University of Utrecht and director of the gay studies programme there, said: 'I'm totally against any a priori ban on particular lines of research but Swaab has simply not given any thought to the consequences of his findings. I believe the responsibility to do so is the other side of the coin of academic freedom'."
# posted by roodbont @ 11:31 AM 
