Margaret Livingstone
American neuroscientist
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Through Visual perception
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. In 1981 she earned her Ph.D. from Harvard University. 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. 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.
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Research
Livingstone's early research was on neurons that respond to serotonin, which she conducted by using lobsters as a model organism. She went on to examine the visual responses in cats, monkeys, and how primates sense color. Her research provides insight into how mammals perceive form and movement, the physiological details leading to dyslexia, and the region of the brain used to identify faces.
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.
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. PETA also asked for retraction of the article, and asked that Livingston's work be defunded. In a response statement, Harvard Medical School defended the value of Livingston's work.
In 2023, members of the Animal Law & Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School and the Wild Mind Labs at the University of St. Andrews wrote a letter, signed by over 380 researchers, asking the National Institute of Health to stop funding Livingstone's research with monkeys.