Margaret Livingstone Explained

Margaret Livingstone
Birth Date:3 April 1950
Birth Place:Danville, Virginia
Alma Mater:MIT
Harvard University
Doctoral Advisor:Edward Kravitz
Thesis Title:Monoamines in the lobster: Biochemistry, anatomy, and possible functional role
Thesis Year:1981
Thesis Url:https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/76992256
Doctoral Students:Stephen Macknik
Doris Tsao
Bevil Conway

Margaret Stratford Livingstone is the Takeda Professor of Neurobiology in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School in the field of visual perception.[1] She authored the book Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing. She was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2015 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020.

Education and career

Livingstone was born in Virginia, started college at Duke University and then transferred to Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she received her undergraduate degree in 1972.[2] [3] In 1981 she earned her Ph.D. from Harvard University.[4] Following her Ph.D. she worked as a visiting fellow at Princeton University and then was a postdoctoral fellow under David H. Hubel at Harvard University.[5] In 1983 she became an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and in 1988 she was promoted to professor, and in 2014 she was named the Takeda Professor of Neurobiology.

Research

Livingstone's early research was on neurons that respond to serotonin, which she conducted by using lobsters as a model organism.[6] [7] She went on to examine the visual responses in cats,[8] monkeys,[9] and how primates sense color.[10] Her research provides insight into how mammals perceive form and movement,[11] [12] the physiological details leading to dsylexia,[13] and the region of the brain used to identify faces.[14] [15]

Allegations of animal cruelty

In 2022, following Livingston's election as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, she published an inaugural article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences titled Triggers for Mother Love, in which she described the reactions of monkey mothers to being given a stuffed toy after the removal of their baby. This drew attention to her research on vision with monkey infants, which included suturing the eyelids of two monkeys shut.[16] [17]

In response, a group of over 250 scientists sent a letter to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences to request retraction of the article.[16] [17] PETA also asked for retraction of the article, and asked that Livingston's work be defunded.[16] In a response statement, Harvard Medical School defended the value of Livingston's work.[16] [17]

Selected publications

Awards and honors

In 2011, the Society for Neuroscience awarded Livingstone the Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award.[19] In 2015 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,[20] and in 2020 she was elected to the United States' National Academy of Sciences.[21]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Margaret Livingstone. Harvard Catalyst Profiles. Harvard Catalyst. 5 June 2017.
  2. Web site: Margaret S. Livingstone . 2022-12-27 . www.nasonline.org.
  3. Book: The history of neuroscience in autobiography . 1996 . Society for Neuroscience . 0-916110-51-6 . Albright . Thomas D. . 9 . Washington DC . 36433905 . Squire . Larry R. . https://web.archive.org/web/20210727070450/https://www.sfn.org/-/media/SfN/Documents/TheHistoryofNeuroscience/Volume-9/HON_V9Livingstone.pdf . July 27, 2021.
  4. Livingstone . Margaret . 1981 . Monoamines in the lobster : biochemistry, anatomy, and possible functional role . 2022-12-27 . Harvard University. en.
  5. Web site: Margaret Livingstone Department of Neurobiology . neuro.med.harvard.edu . en.
  6. Livingstone . Margaret S. . Harris-Warrick . Ronald M. . Kravitz . Edward A. . 1980-04-04 . Serotonin and Octopamine Produce Opposite Postures in Lobsters . Science . en . 208 . 4439 . 76–79 . 10.1126/science.208.4439.76 . 17731572 . 1980Sci...208...76L . 32141532 . 0036-8075.
  7. Livingstone . Margaret S. . Schaeffer . Susan F. . Kravitz . Edward A. . 1981 . Biochemistry and ultrastructure of serotonergic nerve endings in the lobster: Serotonin and octopamine are contained in different nerve endings . Journal of Neurobiology . en . 12 . 1 . 27–54 . 10.1002/neu.480120104 . 6782192 . 0022-3034.
  8. Livingstone . Margaret S. . Hubel . David H. . 1981 . Effects of sleep and arousal on the processing of visual information in the cat . Nature . en . 291 . 5816 . 554–561 . 10.1038/291554a0 . 6165893 . 1981Natur.291..554L . 4335864 . 0028-0836.
  9. Livingstone . M S . Hubel . D H . 1982 . Thalamic inputs to cytochrome oxidase-rich regions in monkey visual cortex. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 79 . 19 . 6098–6101 . 10.1073/pnas.79.19.6098 . 0027-8424 . 347060 . 6193514. 1982PNAS...79.6098L . free .
  10. Livingstone . M. S. . Hubel . D. H. . 1984-01-01 . Anatomy and physiology of a color system in the primate visual cortex . Journal of Neuroscience . en . 4 . 1 . 309–356 . 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.04-01-00309.1984 . 0270-6474 . 6198495. 6564760 . 15340643 . free .
  11. Livingstone . M. S. . Hubel . D. H. . 1987-11-01 . Psychophysical evidence for separate channels for the perception of form, color, movement, and depth . Journal of Neuroscience . en . 7 . 11 . 3416–3468 . 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.07-11-03416.1987 . 0270-6474 . 3316524. 6569044 . 15485966 . free .
  12. Livingstone . Margaret . Hubel . David . 1988-05-06 . Segregation of Form, Color, Movement, and Depth: Anatomy, Physiology, and Perception . Science . en . 240 . 4853 . 740–749 . 10.1126/science.3283936 . 3283936 . 1988Sci...240..740L . 0036-8075.
  13. Livingstone . M S . Rosen . G D . Drislane . F W . Galaburda . A M . 1991-09-15 . Physiological and anatomical evidence for a magnocellular defect in developmental dyslexia. . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . en . 88 . 18 . 7943–7947 . 10.1073/pnas.88.18.7943 . 0027-8424 . 52421 . 1896444. 1991PNAS...88.7943L . free .
  14. Tsao . Doris Y. . Freiwald . Winrich A. . Tootell . Roger B. H. . Livingstone . Margaret S. . 2006-02-03 . A Cortical Region Consisting Entirely of Face-Selective Cells . Science . en . 311 . 5761 . 670–674 . 10.1126/science.1119983 . 0036-8075 . 2678572 . 16456083. 2006Sci...311..670T .
  15. Tsao . Doris Y. . Doris Tsao . Livingstone . Margaret S. . 2008-07-01 . Mechanisms of Face Perception . Annual Review of Neuroscience . en . 31 . 1 . 411–437 . 10.1146/annurev.neuro.30.051606.094238 . 0147-006X . 2629401 . 18558862.
  16. News: Harvard studies on infant monkeys draw fire, split scientists . Science Insider. Science. Grimm. David. October 19, 2022. September 24, 2023.
  17. News: Harvard study on monkeys reignites ethical debate over animal testing . CBS News. November 21, 2022. September 24, 2023.
  18. Reviews for Vision and Art
  19. Web site: Mika Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award . 2022-12-27 . www.sfn.org . en.
  20. Web site: Dr. Margaret S. Livingstone . December 27, 2022 . American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
  21. Web site: National Academy of Sciences Elects New Members . 20 December 2020 . National Academy of Sciences.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Margaret Livingstone".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.