User:Smorong/sandbox

History

Neuroanthropology got revived as a field of study during a 2008 American Anthropological Association conference session. The session was titled “The Encultured Brain: Neuroanthropology and Interdisciplinary Engagement.” In the past, neuroscience and anthropology existed as two separate disciplines that worked together only when necessary. During the 2008 AAA conference session, the need for a study intersecting both fields of study was brought forth with claims that culture directly impacts brain development.

Anthropology and Neuroscience

Cultural neuroscience is another area that focuses on sociality’s impact on the brain. However, unlike neuroanthropology, cultural neuroscience only borrows ideas from other humanistic sciences, such as anthropology and psychology, without direct, long-term studies with these professionals. Studies in cultural neuroscience focus on differences in brain development across cultures using methods from cross-cultural psychology, whereas neuroanthropology revolves around regions in the brain that corresponds to differences in cultural upbringing.

Because anthropological methods haven’t been crucial within the field of cultural neuroscience, neuroanthropology focuses largely on incorporating ideas and practices from both disciplines to better understand how culture impacts brain development. Specifically, neuroanthropology studies how differences in culture may influence neuronal signals and development pertaining to language, music, mental calculations, self-knowledge, and self-awareness. A major finding concludes that experience determines pre-existing patterns of neural activity.