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Profs & Pints: Sex on the Brain

Profs and Pints presents, Sex on the Brain, a look at the science of sex differences, gender, and sexual orientation, with Bradley M. Cooke, adjunct associate professor of neuroscience and psychology at Georgia State University.

What makes someone gay or straight? Are there sex-based physical differences in brain structure that control behavior? To what extent is gender-typical behavior learned?

Bradley Cooke conducted research on such questions for 20 years, examining studies of social behavior in other animal species, distributing questionnaires at Pride festivals, and examining the ultramicroscopic synaptic connections between neurons.

While such science is still in its infancy, we already know a great deal about the origins and meaning of sex differences in the brain, gender, and sexual orientation.

Professor Cooke will share his findings and those of dozens of other scientists whove made seminal contributions to our understanding of sexual behavior. He'll focus on what we know about the origins of sex differences in the brain, the causes of homosexuality in men and women, and the reciprocal relationship between brain structure and behavioral phenomenon known as neural plasticity. He'll also talk about how and when gonadal hormones act on the brain, what studies of finger-length ratios have taught us about sexual orientation, and some of the cutting-edge techniques used to study brain structure and function. You'll leave with a much greater understanding of why we desire those we desire.