Dr. Sandra F. Witelson

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McMaster University
Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine
ProfessorAppointed: 1977
The Brain-Body Institute
St. Joseph's Hospital
MemberAppointed: 2001
McMaster University
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences
Inaugaral holder of the Albert Einstein/Irving Zucker Chair in NeuroscienceAppointed: 1999
Professional Headshot of Sandra F. Witelson

Mailing Address

McMaster University
Faculty of Health Sciences HSC-3H52
Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3Z5
Canada

Contact Information

Phone: (905) 521-2100, ext. 76438
Fax: (905) 521-5083
witelson@mcmaster.ca
http://www.witelson.com

Qualifications

M.Sc., McGill University.
Ph.D., McGill University.

Expertise and Research Interests

- Neurobiological Basis of Cognition in Health & Disease in Men & Women focusing on:
- Hemispheric functional specialization and language and spatial cognition; postmortem anatomy and in vivo MR Imaging
- Structure-function relationships in the human brain
- Developmental neurobiology, microscopic neuroanatomy and immunocytochemistry
- Sexual differentiation of the human brain in relation to behavior and lateralization
- Neurobiological basis of sexual orientation
- Neuroanatomical and neuropsychological aspects of congenital cognitive disorders
- Human brain banks
- Neuroanatomical studies of the human brain, using postmortem brain specimens and in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), focussing on gross morphology, microscopic anatomy and immunohistochemical studies of the cortex
- Delineation of relationships between brain structure and neuropsychological functions, study of neurobiological basis of right-left hemispheric specialization
- Neurobiological basis of behavioral variation, such as exceptional ability, sexual orientation

Keywords

COS Keywords:

Brain, Cognitive Development or Processes, Cognitive Science, Developmental Neurobiology, Developmental Psychology, Histology, Homosexual, Female, Homosexual, Male, Neuroanatomy, Neurobiology, Neuropsychiatry, Sex Roles, Sexuality and Sex Roles.

Additional Terms:

Brain Structure, Cognitive, Functional Asymmetry, Histology, Human Brain Anatomy, Language, Mental Function.

Honors and Awards

2007, Inductee, Hamilton Gallery of Distinction
1999, Inaugaral holder, Albert Einstein/Irving Zucker Chair in Neuroscience, McMaster University
1997, Elected member, The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, NYC
1996, Fellow, Royal Society of Canada (Academy of Science)

Publications

  • Witelson SF, Kigar DL, Scamvougeras A, Kideckel DM, Buck B, Stanchev PL, Bronskill M, Black S (Nov 2007) Corpus Callosum Anatomy in Right-Handed Homosexual and Heterosexual Men., Archives of sexual behavior Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Beresh H, Kigar DL (Feb 2006) Intelligence and brain size in 100 postmortem brains: sex, lateralization and age factors., Brain : a journal of neurology, 129 (Pt 2), 386-98 Abstract
  • Hall GB, Witelson SF, Szechtman H, Nahmias C (Feb 2004) Sex differences in functional activation patterns revealed by increased emotion processing demands., Neuroreport, 15 (2), 219-23 Abstract
  • Scamvougeras A, Kigar DL, Jones D, Weinberger DR, Witelson SF (Feb 2003) Size of the human corpus callosum is genetically determined: an MRI study in mono and dizygotic twins., Neuroscience letters, 338 (2), 91-4 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Kigar DL, Harvey T, The exceptional brain of Albert Einstein [published erratum appears in Lancet 1999 Jul 17; 354 (9174): 258], Lancet, 353(9170), 2149-53, June 1999 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Glezer II, Kigar DL, Women have greater density of neurons in posterior temporal cortex, Journal of Neuroscience, 15(5 Pt 1), 3418-28, May 1995 Abstract
  • McCormick CM, Witelson SF, Functional cerebral asymmetry and sexual orientation in men and women, Behavioral Neuroscience, 108(3), 525-31, June 1994 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Kigar DL (Sep 1992) Sylvian fissure morphology and asymmetry in men and women: bilateral differences in relation to handedness in men., The Journal of comparative neurology, 323 (3), 326-40 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Apr 1992) Cognitive neuroanatomy: a new era., Neurology, 42 (4), 709-13 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Kigar DL, McKanna JA (1992) A computer-assisted direct-imaging system to obtain numerical densities of neurons in human cortex., Brain research bulletin, 29 (3-4), 441-7 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Jul 1991) Sex differences in neuroanatomical changes with aging., The New England journal of medicine, 325 (3), 211-2 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Goldsmith CH (Apr 1991) The relationship of hand preference to anatomy of the corpus callosum in men., Brain research, 545 (1-2), 175-82 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, McCulloch PB (1991) Premortem and postmortem measurement to study structure with function: a human brain collection., Schizophrenia bulletin, 17 (4), 583-91 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Nowakowski RS (1991) Left out axons make men right: a hypothesis for the origin of handedness and functional asymmetry., Neuropsychologia, 29 (4), 327-33 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (1991) Neural sexual mosaicism: sexual differentiation of the human temporo-parietal region for functional asymmetry., Psychoneuroendocrinology, 16 (1-3), 131-53 Abstract
  • McCormick CM, Witelson SF, Kingstone E (1990) Left-handedness in homosexual men and women: neuroendocrine implications., Psychoneuroendocrinology, 15 (1), 69-76 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Jun 1989) Hand and sex differences in the isthmus and genu of the human corpus callosum. A postmortem morphological study., Brain : a journal of neurology, 112 ( Pt 3), 799-835 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Jun 1987) Neurobiological aspects of language in children., Child development, 58 (3), 653-88 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Aug 1985) The brain connection: the corpus callosum is larger in left-handers., Science (New York, N.Y.), 229 (4714), 665-8 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Mar 1979) Developmental Dyslexia: Research Methods and Inferences., Science (New York, N.Y.), 203 (4387), 1365-1366 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Sep 1977) Anatomic asymmetry in the temporal lobes: its documentation, phylogenesis, and relationship to functional asymmetry., Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 299, 328-54 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Jan 1977) Developmental dyslexia: two right hemispheres and none left., Science (New York, N.Y.), 195 (4275), 309-11 Abstract
  • Witelson SF (Mar 1974) Hemispheric specialization for linguistic and nonlinguistic tactual perception using a dichotomous stimulation technique., Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, 10 (1), 3-17 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Rabinovitch MS (Dec 1972) Hemispheric speech lateralization in children with auditory-linguistic deficits., Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior, 8 (4), 412-26 Abstract
  • Witelson SF, Rabinovitch MS (Aug 1971) Children's recall strategies in dichotic listening., Journal of experimental child psychology, 12 (1), 106-13 Abstract
  • Witelson SF. (1993) Clinical neurology as data for basic neuroscience: Tourette's syndrome and the human motor system. Neurology (Editorial) 43:859-861

Profile Details

Last Updated: 6/28/2010

COS Expertise ID #668551
Reference this profile directly: http://myprofile.cos.com/witelson