Main description:

M. HAUG Universite Louis Pasteur, Laboratoire de Psychophysi%gie, URA 1295, 7, rue de /'Universite, 67000 Strasbourg, France This varied and impressive volume is a record of the major presentations at the NATO sponsored Advanced Research Workshop on The Development of Sex Differences and Similarities in Behaviour held at the Chateau de Bonas, Gers, France July 14-18, 1992. It is fitting that a meeting evaluating masculine and feminine 'characteristics' was located in the Gascony region immortalised in Alexandre Dumas epic, macho tale of The Three Musketeers. It is even more satisfying that Marc HAUG the French Director (a D' Artagnan equivalent) was ably assisted by a US/French Consortium of three co-Directors (Drs. Richard E. WHALEN, Claude ARON and Kathie L. OLSEN). The ARW also provided opportunities to explore the region around the Chateau, to appreciate the complex history of the area and to sample armagnac and other local gastronomic creations. A lively and varied cultural programme (classics to jazz) was also provided to maintain the interests and enthusiasms of the participants.

Contents:

Inherited and Environmental Determinants of Bisexuality in the Male Rat.- A Sexually Dimorphic Motor Nucleus: Steroid Sensitive Afferents, Sex Differences and Hormonal Regulation.- Neonatal Programming of Adult Partner Preference in Male Rats.- Neural Bases of Behavioral Sex Differences in Quail.- Animal Sexual Differentiation : the Early Days and Current Questions.- Consequences of Gender Differences in Mathematical Reasoning Ability and some Biological Linkages.- How and Why Sex Differences Evolve, with Spatial Ability as a Paradigm Example.- Hormonal and Neural Correlates of Sex-Typed Behavioral Development in Human Beings.- Are Sex or Gender Relevant Categories to Language Performance ? A Critical Review.- Organizational Effects of Gonadal Hormones Induce Qualitative Differences in Visuospatial Navigation.- Intraspecific Aggression in Mice (Mus Domesticus): Male and Female Strategies.- A Comparison of Drug Responses by Male and Female Rats During Aggression Tests.- Sex Differences in Primate Social Behavior.- What, How, and Why of Gender Differences from an Evolutionary Perspective.- Sex and the Mutant Mouse: Strategies for Understanding the Sexual Differentiation of the Brain.- Sexualisation of Behavior During Development in the Pig.- Some Genetic Considerations in the Development of Sexual Orientation.- Morphological Correlates of Neuronal Plasticity to Gonadal Steroids : Sexual Differentiation of the Preoptic Area.- Mating-Induced Expression of Immediate-Early Genes in the Male and Female Nervous System.- The Development of Sex Differences and Similarities in Brain Anatomy, Physiology and Behavior is Under Complex Hormonal Control.- Sexual Dimorphism in the Accessory Olfactory System.- Sex Differences in the Rat Cerebral Cortex.- Sexual Dimorphisms in Regulatory Systems for Aggression.- Sexually Dimorphic Hypothalamic Cell Groups and a Related Pathway that are Essential for Masculine Copulatory Behavior.- Sex Differences in Human Social Behavior: Meta-Analytic Studies of Social Psychological Research.- The Psychobiology of Sexual Orientation.- Alternative Conceptions of Sex (and Sex Differences).- Dimensions of Human Sexual identity: Transsexuals, Homosexuals, Fetishists, Cross-Gendered Children and Animal Models.- List of Participants.