Neuroanthropology

Neuroanthropology aims to understand the interactions between the brain and culture and how such interactions, in part, drive human variation. Current discussions in neuroanthropology aim to understand better how neurological development generates culture and how human sociocultural contexts shape neural development. The chapter described the roots of these discussions in the historical development of anthropology. Anthropology’s holistic approach and emphasis on human variation laid the groundwork for neuroanthropology. The concept of “local neurologies” offers an approach for understanding neural development in interaction with small-scale, situated sociocultural and ecological dynamics. The chapter then discusses how individuals develop within these local constraints using three approaches (developmental systems, embodied cognition, and dynamic epidemiology) that support studies of how sociocultural processes engage with flexible human nervous systems. Ultimately, this chapter contrasts explanations of human behavior and experience that rely on only the neurological or cultural and instead suggests better ways to bridge the gap between the brain and culture.