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Culture and the Human Brain
Author(s) -
Turner Robert
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
anthropology and humanism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.153
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 1548-1409
pISSN - 1559-9167
DOI - 10.1525/ahu.2001.26.2.167
Subject(s) - human brain , relativism , ethnography , epistemology , psychology , brain anatomy , cognitive science , neuroscience , sociology , philosophy , medicine , anthropology , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology
This article discusses the assumption of cultural relativism that anthropologists make in ethnographic practice, from the point of view of brain science. Our current knowledge of human brain structures is briefly summarized. While neurologists tend to assume that all brains are fundamentally alike, it has also become clear that experience can modify brain organization. Cultures and their associated worldviews represent relatively coherent and systematic shapings of individual experience, and, hence, could result in consistent biases in brain functional anatomy. New harmless methods based on MRI for mapping of human brain activity will allow empirical study of such effects.