Posted: Mar 29, 2011 10:06 pm
Federico wrote:Mr.Samsa,
To my eternal damnation, I have to admit you are a Master of Debunking. Actually -- as I have written in a previous post -- had you been given the opportunity to meet Einstein you would have debunked his fuzzy Theory of Relativity.
If Einstein based his ideas on faulty logic and speculation, then you might have a point
Federico wrote:But, in any case, I will try and answer your criticism point by point.
1) Right: only the more important.
2) Yes, I did mention the paper in Science, 1969, but since it was inaccessible, I had to cite the one written in 1974.
No, you didn't mention the 1969 paper. The 1969 paper was included in the abstract that you quoted (along with various other citations). Federico wrote:3) The actual annoying part is the assertion by the Chinese researchers of their work being the first one to demonstrate the role of serotonin on mammalians' sexual behavior: which is obviously untrue.
4) No comment.
5) No comment.
6) I have answered at point 2 my reasons for citing the 1974 paper.
Summary. It's your opinion which, of course, I respect but don't accept.
I see no evidence of the researchers claiming that they were the first to demonstrate the role of serotonin on sexual behavior? And in fact, the first couple of paragraphs in the article are dedicated to discussing the previous research in this area which has demonstrated that. What they did suggest they did was that they created a better model for analysing the effects of serotonin on sexual behavior, and they claim that they have demonstrated a link between serotonin and sexual preference (i.e. they were trying to distinguish between indiscriminate mating, and preference for males - which no other study has attempted).
Federico wrote:Back on scientific ground, I will say that, IMHO, serotonin has no role to play in sexual preferences in mammalians, man included. The indiscriminate and frenzied copulatory behavior of serotonin-depleted male animals could be due to an "aphrodisiac" effect of suppressing a sex inhibitor. In other words, the mirror image of what happens when you increase brain serotonin levels by administering a SRI such as fluoxetin to humans, i.e., no orgasm, no or delayed ejaculation.
I don't know about "no role to play in sexual preferences", as serotonin is important for a number of processes, including learning, so it likely has some role. However, I agree that its effects probably aren't as direct as these researchers are suggesting and I don't think this study has shown that serotonin has an effect on sexual preference.