Neurosocieties: Interdisciplinary Explorations of the Brain, Culture and Ethics 3

Session Submission Type: Open Panel

Abstract

In the last two decades the neurosciences have become a highly prestigious and influential force in contemporary societies. The significant symbolic and financial resources invested within neuroscience research (e.g. the EU’s Human Brain Project, and the US’ BRAIN Initiative) as well as its translation into practice and policy raise a number of pressing issues for social scientists, bioethicists and STS theorists in particular. Thus, the Neurosocieties interdisciplinary open panel will address themes such as: the influence of brain-based explanations of personhood, health and behaviour in contemporary communities; how these explanations align and conflict with other ways of making sense of personhood; new social forms emerging in response to the rising prestige of neurosciences; and the responsible management of the expectations of patients, families and carers regarding promising neuro-interventions. Additionally, recent developments within the neurosciences – particularly the emerging interest in culture and social context – have created new opportunities for productive engagement between neuroscience, social science and ethics. Accordingly, the interdisciplinary panel will call for papers from STS, anthropology, philosophy, bioethics and related disciplines that explore new options for conceptualising: the relationship between brain, body and environment; the relationship between thinking, feeling, mood and cognition; understandings of agency and moral responsibility; and interdisciplinary perspectives more generally, on the brain, personhood and culture. The panel will prepare the ground for an interdisciplinary special issue on Neurosocieties.

Sub Unit

• Papers for Open Panels / Neurosocieties: Interdisciplinary Explorations of the Brain, Culture and Ethics

Chairs

• John Grant Gardner, Monash University, Australia

• Cynthia Forlini, University of Sydney

Individual Presentations

• Environmentalizing the city: Urban Life and the Biophilic Brain - Des Fitzgerald, Cardiff University

• What Brain Scans Can and Cannot See Seen from a Thai Bio-artscape - Birgit Ruth Buergi

• Influence of Brain-based Explanations in the Subjective Experience of Anxiety and Depression - Andrea Clara Bielli, Universidad de la República; María Pilar Bacci, Universidad de la República; Gabriela Lilián Bruno, Universidad de la República; Lauren Pedrebon, Universidad de la República

• Selective Neurologisation: Examining The Relationship Between Addiction Treatment Providers’ Use Of Neuroscience And Client Subjectivity - Anthony Barnett, Monash University; Martyn Pickersgill, University of Edinburgh; Adrian Carter, Monash University

Session Organizer

• John Grant Gardner, Monash University, Australia