Human neuropsychology and the concept of culture

Abstract

American anthropology is distinguished by a four-fields approach in which biological, cultural, archaeological, and linguistic dimensions of behavior are examined in evolutionary and cross-cultural perspective. Nevertheless, assumptions of mind-body dualism pervade scholarly thinking in anthropology and have prevented the development of a truly integrated science of human experience. This dualism is most exemplified by the lack of consideration of the role of the brain in both "physical" and "mental" processes, including phenomena labeled as cultural. In this paper, I review neural mechanisms of learning, communication, and emotion, and discuss the implications of these findings for culture theory.

Husserlian Neurophenomenology: Grounding the Anthropology of Experience in Reality

“…Physical anthropology, of course, has had an abiding interest in the evolution of the primate and hominin brains, especially reflected in the work of Ralph L. Holloway [91,92]. Although the roots of anthropological interest in the brains of fossilized and living peoples dates back to the mid-20th century [93][94][95], it may be viewed as a more direct outgrowth of neuroanthropology, a movement my colleagues and I founded in the 1980s and thereafter elucidated [96][97][98][99], in synch with other scientists [100][101][102][103], in an attempt to engage cultural anthropology with the neurosciences.…”

The Genesis of Mind and Spirit

“…One of the central principles necessary for understanding human development is that of our extensive neurobehavioral plasticity. The last few decades have uncovered a great deal about how biological processes interact with the external world during growth and development, showing measurable effects on the anatomy, physiology, and chemistry of the nervous system (Blonder 1991). Although genetics do set some constraints, there is plasticity at every level of development (Nowakowski 1987).…”

“…William T. Greenough also provides evidence for both "experience-expectant" overproductions of synaptic connections for species-ubiquitous environmental information (experience itself selecting which connections remain) and for "experiencedependent" novel synaptic connections formed in response to idiosyncratic experience (Greenough 1986;Greenough, Black, and Wallace 1987). There is also a growing body of evidence for lifelong neurobehavioral plasticity in human beings: the dependence of left-hemisphere, language-area maturation on appropriate prepuberty stimulation; the quantitative increases in left-hemisphere language dominance produced by literacy; the elimination, during adolescence and young adulthood, of excess synapses in the principal sulcus, which appears to be necessary for fully mature delayedresponse functioning; and the extensive dendritic growth in the learning Zygon and memory-crucial parahippocampal gyrus among normal elderly people (Blonder 1991;Goldman-Rakic 1987).…”