October 16, 2009
Neuroanthropology, a rough guide:
There's a comprehensive and compelling introduction to neuroanthropology over at the blog of the same name that outlines why we can't fully understand the brain or culture while thinking of them as separate entities.
The Neuroanthropology blog is run by two of the main researchers in the field and this recent article was written to launch their recent conference 'The Encultured Brain'.
The article is in-depth but accessible and clearly lays out the main ideas in the field, looking at the benefits to both brain science and cultural studies in a combined approach and noting where narrow thinking has dimmed our view of human nature.
The potential gains are enormous: a robust account of brains in the wild, an understanding of how we come to possess our distinctive capacities and the degree to which these might be malleable across our entire species. The applications of this sort of research are myriad in diverse areas such as education, cross-cultural communication, developmental psychology, design, therapy, and information technology, to name just a few. But the first step is the one taken here – by coming together, we can achieve significant advances in understanding how our very humanity relies on the intricate interplay of brain and culture.
Link to 'Why Neuroanthropology? Why Now?'
