In this Book

  • The Encultured Brain: An Introduction to Neuroanthropology
  • Book
  • Daniel H. Lende
  • 2012
  • Published by: The MIT Press
summary
The brain and the nervous system are our most cultural organs. Our nervous system is especially immature at birth, our brain disproportionately small in relation to its adult size and open to cultural sculpting at multiple levels. Recognizing this, the new field of neuroanthropology places the brain at the center of discussions about human nature and culture. Anthropology offers brain science more robust accounts of enculturation to explain observable difference in brain function; neuroscience offers anthropology evidence of neuroplasticity's role in social and cultural dynamics. This book provides a foundational text for neuroanthropology, offering basic concepts and case studies at the intersection of brain and culture. After an overview of the field and background information on recent research in biology, a series of case studies demonstrate neuroanthropology in practice. Contributors first focus on capabilities and skills -- including memory in medical practice, skill acquisition in martial arts, and the role of humor in coping with breast cancer treatment and recovery -- then report on problems and pathologies that range from post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans to smoking as a part of college social life. ContributorsMauro C. Balieiro, Kathryn Bouskill, Rachel S. Brezis, Benjamin Campbell, Greg Downey, José Ernesto dos Santos, William W. Dressler, Erin P. Finley, Agustín Fuentes, M. Cameron Hay, Daniel H. Lende, Katherine C. MacKinnon, Katja Pettinen, Peter G. Stromberg

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
  2. pp. i-iv
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. v-vi
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  1. Acknowledgments
  2. pp. vii-x
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  1. I. On the Encultured Brain
  1. 1. The Encultured Brain: Development, Case Studies, and Methods
  2. Daniel H. Lende and Greg Downey
  3. pp. 3-22
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  1. 2. Neuroanthropology and the Encultured Brain
  2. Greg Downey and Daniel H. Lende
  3. pp. 23-66
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  1. 3. Primate Social Cognition, Human Evolution, and Niche Construction: A Core Context for Neuroanthropology
  2. Katherine C. MacKinnon and Agustín Fuentes
  3. pp. 67-102
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  1. 4. Evolution and the Brain
  2. Greg Downey and Daniel H. Lende
  3. pp. 103-138
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  1. II. Case Studies on Human Capacities, Skills, and Variation
  1. 5. Memory and Medicine
  2. M. Cameron Hay
  3. pp. 141-168
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  1. 6. Balancing between Cultures: Equilibrium in Capoeira
  2. Greg Downey
  3. pp. 169-194
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  1. 7. From Habits of Doing to Habits of Feeling: Skill Acquisition in Taijutsu Practice
  2. Katja Pettinen
  3. pp. 195-212
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  1. 8. Holistic Humor: Coping with Breast Cancer
  2. Kathryn Bouskill
  3. pp. 213-236
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  1. 9. Embodiment and Male Vitality in Subsistence Societies
  2. Benjamin Campbell
  3. pp. 237-260
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  1. III. Case Studies on Human Problems, Pathologies, and Variation
  1. 10. War and Dislocation: A Neuroanthropological Model of Trauma among American Veterans with Combat PTSD
  2. Erin P. Finley
  3. pp. 263-290
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  1. 11. Autism as a Case for Neuroanthropology: Delineating the Role of Theory of Mind in Religious Development
  2. Rachel S. Brezis
  3. pp. 291-314
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  1. 12. Collective Excitement and Lapse in Agency: Fostering an Appetite for Cigarettes
  2. Peter G. Stromberg
  3. pp. 315-338
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  1. 13. Addiction and Neuroanthropology
  2. Daniel H. Lende
  3. pp. 339-362
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  1. 14. Cultural Consonance, Consciousness, and Depression:Genetic Moderating Effects on the Psychological Mediators of Culture
  2. William W. Dressler, Mauro C. Balieiro, and Jos é Ernesto dos Santos
  3. pp. 363-388
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  1. IV. Conclusion
  1. 15. The Encultured Brain—Toward the Future
  2. Daniel H. Lende and Greg Downey
  3. pp. 391-420
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  1. Contributors
  2. pp. 421-422
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 423-438
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