Grey matter or social matters? Causal attributions in the era of biological psychiatry

Abstract

Fig. 1. Correlation between the strength of an individual's amputation desire and the surface area of a circumscribed region in the inferior parietal lobe (depicted in B). C: Boxand-whisker plots show distributions of plausibility ratings for two types of causality arguably implied by this correlation, i.e. neural primacy (dark bars) or behavioural primacy (light bars). A and B reprinted, (with permission), from ref. [6].

Uncertainty Promotes Neuroreductionism: A Behavioral Online Study on Folk Psychological Causal Inference from Neuroimaging Data

“…In the case of BID, a still largely unknown clinical condition, the data reveal a clear preference for a brain-to-mind directed causality, indicating that participants assumed the phenomenal and behavioral properties to be a consequence, rather than a cause of brain alterations. A similar finding was previously reported by Brugger and colleagues [16]; however, the present investigations highlight that implicit assumptions about a correlation that importantly bias the misattribution to an underlying cause significantly depend on the context. Critically, we draw attention to context-dependent differences in justifying those causal misattributions.…”

“…We compare these 2 contexts to a correlation between symptoms of xenomelia and structural properties of a circumscribed cortical surface area, loosely inspired by the first publication on neurostructural data in xenomelia [15]. We assumed no additional information justifying unidirectional judgment with respect to this largely unknown disorder but expected higher plausibility ratings from the brain to mind [16].…”

Neural Correlates of Body Integrity Dysphoria

“…The neuroimaging methods used here do not allow any inferences on causality. However, facing the graphical depictions of a relationship between cortical structure and behavior, the vector of causality is reportedly biased in a brain-to-mind direction [28]. This holds for laypeople and academics alike and underlines the necessity of considering nonlinear interactions of biological, psychological, and social factors underlying BID.…”

Commentary on “Grey matter or social matters? Causal attributions in the era of biological psychiatry”

“…Even within Western studies, culture might have a role in differentiating features between European and American individuals. If "Access to and nature of care will heavily depend on the emerging definitions of such conditions" ( [6], p. 46) then the future of understanding…”

“…Even within Western studies, culture might have a role in differentiating features between European and American individuals. If “Access to and nature of care will heavily depend on the emerging definitions of such conditions” ([6], p. 46) then the future of understanding xenomelia relies on multidisciplinary studies including biological, social and cultural components. Furthermore, attitudes towards social matters were explored in European individuals.…”