Brain and Culture: Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change (Bradford Books)

Research shows that between birth and early adulthood the brain requires sensory stimulation to develop physically. The nature of the stimulation shapes the connections among neurons that create the neuronal networks necessary for thought and behavior. By changing the cultural environment, each generation shapes the brains of the next. By early adulthood, the neuroplasticity of the brain is greatly reduced, and this leads to a fundamental shift in the relationship between the individual and the environment: during the first part of life, the brain and mind shape themselves to the major recurring features of their environment; by early adulthood, the individual attempts to make the environment conform to the established internal structures of the brain and mind. In Brain and Culture, Bruce Wexler explores the social implications of the close and changing neurobiological relationship between the individual and the environment, with particular attention to the difficulties individuals face in adulthood when the environment changes beyond their ability to maintain the fit between existing internal structure and external reality. These difficulties are evident in bereavement, the meeting of different cultures, the experience of immigrants (in which children of immigrant families are more successful than their parents at the necessary internal transformations), and the phenomenon of interethnic violence. Integrating recent neurobiological research with major experimental findings in cognitive and developmental psychology--with illuminating references to psychoanalysis, literature, anthropology, history, and politics--Wexler presents a wealth of detail to support his arguments. The groundbreaking connections he makes allow for reconceptualization of the effect of cultural change on the brain and provide a new biological base from which to consider such social issues as "culture wars" and ethnic violence. Brain And Culture Reviews Extensive Neuroscience, Psychological, Social Science, And Historical Research To Offer A New View Of The Relationship Between People And Their Environments. Our Brains Require Sensory Input From The Environment To Develop Normally, And That Input Shapes The Brain Systems Necessary For Perception, Memory, And Thinking. Environmental Shaping Of The Brain Is Much Greater In People That In Other Animals And, More Importantly, We Shape The Environment That Shapes Our Brains To An Extent Without Precedent. Even The Structure And Function Of Dna That Codes For Brain Proteins Are Changed By Early Life Experience. Through These Processes Our Brains Shape Themselves To The Individual Cultural And Interpersonal Environments In Which We Are Reared.--jacket. Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- [pt]. 1. Background : Some Basic Facts About The Human Brain -- 1. Transgenerational Shaping Of Human Brain Function -- 2. Effects Of Sensory Deprivation And Sensory Enrichment Of Brain Structure And Function -- 3. Effects Of The Social Environment On Brain Structure And Function -- [pt]. 2. The Neurobiology Of Ideology -- 4. Self-preservation And The Difficulty Of Change In Adulthood -- 5. The Meeting Of Cultures -- Epilogue -- References -- Index. Bruce E. Wexler. A Bradford Book. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [255]-298) And Index.