The Helen Keller Project THE WOMAN WHO DEFEATED LIFE’S CHALLENGES.
Woman in Science 1987 KELLER 507
1
Women in Science As a woman scientist, as well as a long- time supporter of women in science, I am pleased to see Science devote space to a review of Hypatia's Heritage: A History of Women in Science fromAntiquity Through the Nineteenth Century (27 Feb., p. 1092). But I am nonplussed by Ann H. Koblitz's refer- ence, simultaneously gratuitous and errone- ous, to my own book on a rather different subject, Reflections on Gender and Science (1). Most readers of Science are well aware of the demographic predominance of men in scientific professions; they are probably also aware of the enormous obstacles (both cul- tural and institutional) that women in sci- ence have historically had to contend with. But they may be less aware of the role that gender stereotypes (in particular, the con- ventional definition of science as "mascu- line") have played in the exclusion of wom- en from science. In Reflections on Gender and Science, I do indeed, as Koblitz remarks, invoke the mas- culine pronoun to refer to the architects of modern science, and I do so to underline two facts-not simply that the "founding fathers of modern science" were in fact male, but also that they conceptualized science, explicitly and self-consciously, as a specifical- ly "masculine" endeavor: better, and purer, than other philosophies precisely to the ex- tent that it excluded attributes or values that were regarded as "feminine." In other words, the conception of science as "mascu- line" began, not with contemporary femi- nists, but with the original makers of sci- ence. To acknowledge this history is not in any way to "aver" that there have been no women scientists. Indeed, my earlier book on Barbara McClintock (2) begins with a lengthy discussion of the impressive number and caliber of women at the beginning of this century struggling to pursue scientific careers. And Koblitz is quite right that they were not the first. One would hope that calling attention to the deep cultural obsta- cles women in science have faced would not be read as implying that women scientists neither existed nor are in any sense less capable than their male colleagues. But there is another point here as well. The focus ofReflections on Gender and Science is not, finally, on cultural obstacles facing women in science, but rather on the role that gender stereotypes have played within the actual workings of science. The exclu- sion of values culturally relegated to the female domain has led to an effective "mas- culinization" of science-to an unwitting alliance between scientific values and ideals of masculinity embraced by our particular culture. All of our best hopes for science- our very aspirations to objectivity and uni- versality-would argue that such alliance (and exclusion) would be to the detriment not only of women scientists but of all scientists and indeed to the detriment of science itself. EVELYN Fox KELLER Society for the Humanities, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 REFERENCES 1. E. F. Keller, Reflections on Gender and Science (Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CI, 1985). 2. A Feeling For the Organism: The Lifc and Work of Barbara McClintock (Freeman, New York, 1983). Adolescence and Mental Illness Deborah M. Barnes, in her summary of biological issues in schizophrenia (Research News, 23 Jan., p. 430), mentions in passing that "some researchers are beginning to ask .., whether certain developmental changes in the brain that take place around puberty may be related to schizophrenia." These changes should be of special interest to clinicians as well as to basic scientists because the onset of schizophrenia in the peripubertal period is one of the most reli- able characteristics of this subtle and baffling disorder. Despite disturbances of behavior so extreme as to render patients nonfunc- tional for decades, there has not yet been demonstrated a single brain abnormality specific to schizophrenia. Evidence converging from several disci- plines indicates that the frequent onset of schizophrenia during or shortly after adoles- cence may be related to a profound reorga- nization of the brain during the second decade of life (1). Among the most striking phenomena are a massive reduction in the amplitude and duration of the delta electro- encephalogram (EEG) of deep (stage 4) sleep (2) and a decline in cerebral oxygen consumption (CMRO2). An early study with the Kety-Schmidt nitrous oxide meth- od, which gives a weighted average of the metabolic rate of gray and white matter, suggested a CMRO2 decline of about 25% during the second decade (3). An effect of this magnitude is not trivial, being equal to the average difference between senile and normal elderly individuals (4). Recent inves- tigations by Chugani and his colleagues (5) indicate that the developmental decline in cortical CMRO2 is even greater: using posi- tron emission tomography, they found that cortical brain metabolism was reduced dur- ing the second decade by as much as 50%. A structural basis for this change is provided by Huttenlocher's discovery (6) of a sharp decline in the density of synapses in human frontal cortex during the second decade. The available data suggest that the curves for these three variables-cerebral metabolic rate, amplitude and duration of stage 4 EEG waves, and cortical synaptic density-are approximately parallel over the first 20 years of life: each rises steeply after birth to a maximum (about twice the adult level) at 2 to 5 years, maintains the high level to the end of the first decade, and then declines until, at the end of the second decade, the adult level has been reached. The falloffs are steepest between ages 10 and 15. Huttenlocher suggested that the decline in synaptic density during adolescence is a final manifestation of a mechanism used repeatedly in earlier brain development: a programmed elimination of excess neural elements to achieve a fine-tuning of the nervous system (7). This same change could account for the decline in the delta EEG of deep sleep and in CMRO2 and for certain other brain and behavioral changes of ado- lescence (1). A defect in this (presumably) genetically controlled process might impair mechanisms of neural integration and there- by produce the illness in at least a subgroup of patients with the schizophrenic syn- drome. Other psychiatric illnesses that ap- pear after adolescence-such as classical ma- nia and depression-may involve different faults in the same process. Whether or not the brain changes of adolescence prove causal to schizophrenia or to other psychiatric disorders, they are of considerable basic importance to those con- cerned with the ontogeny of the human brain. Thus, to the intense psychosocial, sexual-endocrine, and cognitive changes of adolescence, we can add modifications in brain physiology and structure. Investiga- tion of the interaction of these phenomena, and of their bearing on mental illness, could be mutually beneficial for neuroscience and behavioral 'research. IRWIN FEINBERG Veterans Administration Medical Center Nortkport, NY 11768, and Department ofPsychiay, State Univrsity ofNew York, Stony Brook, NY 11790 REFERENCES 1. I. Feinberg.J. Psychiatr. Rcs. 17, 319 (1982/83). 2. , ibid. 10, 283 (1974); , S. Hibi, V. R. Carlson, in Aging Brain and Scnie Dementia, K. Nandy and I. Sherwin, Eds. (Plenum, New York, 1977), pp. 85-98; R. L. Williams, I. Karacan, C. J. Hursch, m Ektroenbhalography (EEG) of Human Skep: Clinic Applications (Wicey, New York, 1974). I MAY I987 LETrERS 507 on December 3, 2014 www.sciencemag.org Downloaded from
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Transcript of Woman in Science 1987 KELLER 507
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Women in Science
As a woman scientist, as well as a long-time supporter of women in science, I ampleased to see Science devote space to areview of Hypatia's Heritage: A History ofWomen in SciencefromAntiquity Through theNineteenth Century (27 Feb., p. 1092). But Iam nonplussed by Ann H. Koblitz's refer-ence, simultaneously gratuitous and errone-ous, to my own book on a rather differentsubject, Reflections on Gender and Science (1).Most readers of Science are well aware of
the demographic predominance of men inscientific professions; they are probably alsoaware of the enormous obstacles (both cul-tural and institutional) that women in sci-ence have historically had to contend with.But they may be less aware of the role thatgender stereotypes (in particular, the con-ventional definition of science as "mascu-line") have played in the exclusion ofwom-en from science.
In Reflections on Gender and Science, I doindeed, as Koblitz remarks, invoke the mas-culine pronoun to refer to the architects ofmodern science, and I do so to underlinetwo facts-not simply that the "foundingfathers ofmodern science" were in fact male,but also that they conceptualized science,explicitly and self-consciously, as a specifical-ly "masculine" endeavor: better, and purer,than other philosophies precisely to the ex-tent that it excluded attributes or values thatwere regarded as "feminine." In otherwords, the conception of science as "mascu-line" began, not with contemporary femi-nists, but with the original makers of sci-ence.To acknowledge this history is not in any
way to "aver" that there have been nowomen scientists. Indeed, my earlier bookon Barbara McClintock (2) begins with alengthy discussion of the impressive numberand caliber of women at the beginning ofthis century struggling to pursue scientificcareers. And Koblitz is quite right that theywere not the first. One would hope thatcalling attention to the deep cultural obsta-cles women in science have faced would notbe read as implying that women scientistsneither existed nor are in any sense lesscapable than their male colleagues.But there is another point here as well.
The focus ofReflections on Gender and Scienceis not, finally, on cultural obstacles facingwomen in science, but rather on the rolethat gender stereotypes have played withinthe actual workings of science. The exclu-sion of values culturally relegated to thefemale domain has led to an effective "mas-
culinization" of science-to an unwittingalliance between scientific values and idealsof masculinity embraced by our particularculture. All of our best hopes for science-our very aspirations to objectivity and uni-versality-would argue that such alliance(and exclusion) would be to the detrimentnot only of women scientists but of allscientists and indeed to the detriment ofscience itself.
EVELYN Fox KELLERSociety for the Humanities,
Cornell University,Ithaca, NY 14853
REFERENCES
1. E. F. Keller, Reflections on Gender and Science (YaleUniv. Press, New Haven, CI, 1985).
2. A Feeling For the Organism: The Lifc andWork of Barbara McClintock (Freeman, New York,1983).
Adolescence and Mental Illness
Deborah M. Barnes, in her summary ofbiological issues in schizophrenia (ResearchNews, 23 Jan., p. 430), mentions in passingthat "some researchers are beginning toask .., whether certain developmentalchanges in the brain that take place aroundpuberty may be related to schizophrenia."These changes should be of special interestto clinicians as well as to basic scientistsbecause the onset of schizophrenia in theperipubertal period is one of the most reli-able characteristics ofthis subtle and bafflingdisorder. Despite disturbances of behaviorso extreme as to render patients nonfunc-tional for decades, there has not yet beendemonstrated a single brain abnormalityspecific to schizophrenia.
Evidence converging from several disci-plines indicates that the frequent onset ofschizophrenia during or shortly after adoles-cence may be related to a profound reorga-nization of the brain during the seconddecade of life (1). Among the most strikingphenomena are a massive reduction in theamplitude and duration of the delta electro-encephalogram (EEG) of deep (stage 4)sleep (2) and a decline in cerebral oxygenconsumption (CMRO2). An early studywith the Kety-Schmidt nitrous oxide meth-od, which gives a weighted average of themetabolic rate of gray and white matter,suggested a CMRO2 decline of about 25%during the second decade (3). An effect ofthis magnitude is not trivial, being equal tothe average difference between senile andnormal elderly individuals (4). Recent inves-tigations by Chugani and his colleagues (5)indicate that the developmental decline incortical CMRO2 is even greater: using posi-
tron emission tomography, they found thatcortical brain metabolism was reduced dur-ing the second decade by as much as 50%. Astructural basis for this change is providedby Huttenlocher's discovery (6) of a sharpdecline in the density of synapses in humanfrontal cortex during the second decade. Theavailable data suggest that the curves forthese three variables-cerebral metabolicrate, amplitude and duration ofstage 4 EEGwaves, and cortical synaptic density-areapproximately parallel over the first 20 yearsof life: each rises steeply after birth to amaximum (about twice the adult level) at 2to 5 years, maintains the high level to theend of the first decade, and then declinesuntil, at the end of the second decade, theadult level has been reached. The falloffs aresteepest between ages 10 and 15.
Huttenlocher suggested that the declinein synaptic density during adolescence is afinal manifestation of a mechanism usedrepeatedly in earlier brain development: aprogrammed elimination of excess neuralelements to achieve a fine-tuning of thenervous system (7). This same change couldaccount for the decline in the delta EEG ofdeep sleep and in CMRO2 and for certainother brain and behavioral changes of ado-lescence (1). A defect in this (presumably)genetically controlled process might impairmechanisms of neural integration and there-by produce the illness in at least a subgroupof patients with the schizophrenic syn-drome. Other psychiatric illnesses that ap-pear after adolescence-such as classical ma-nia and depression-may involve differentfaults in the same process.Whether or not the brain changes of
adolescence prove causal to schizophrenia orto other psychiatric disorders, they are ofconsiderable basic importance to those con-cerned with the ontogeny of the humanbrain. Thus, to the intense psychosocial,sexual-endocrine, and cognitive changes ofadolescence, we can add modifications inbrain physiology and structure. Investiga-tion of the interaction of these phenomena,and of their bearing on mental illness, couldbe mutually beneficial for neuroscience andbehavioral 'research.
IRWIN FEINBERGVeterans Administration Medical Center
Nortkport, NY 11768, andDepartment ofPsychiay,
State Univrsity ofNew York,Stony Brook, NY 11790
REFERENCES
1. I. Feinberg.J. Psychiatr. Rcs. 17, 319 (1982/83).2. , ibid. 10, 283 (1974);, S. Hibi, V.
R. Carlson, in Aging Brain and Scnie Dementia, K.Nandy and I. Sherwin, Eds. (Plenum, New York,1977), pp. 85-98; R. L. Williams, I. Karacan, C. J.Hursch, m Ektroenbhalography (EEG) ofHumanSkep: Clinic Applications (Wicey, New York, 1974).
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