Exploring the Meaning of Neurogenetic Reductionism in Science, Culture and the Clinic
19/10/06 ISS, The University of Nottingham
Developments in the brain sciences – in neuroscience, behavioural genetics and brain imaging – are often portrayed in both science and popular culture as supporting reductionist ideas in which our biology – in this case, our brain - determines our behaviour, social interactions and future mental health. This has sometimes led to fierce debates between the critics of such work, and biological researchers in these areas, who often claim that their ideas are misrepresented in the mass media and by social scientists. However, recent scientific developments in the neurosciences, genetics and psychiatric research have started to question some of the earlier assumptions that the brain is ‘hardwired' or that genetic factors are decisive in determining our future health. Within the brain sciences there is increasing recognition of the role of social and environmental factors in shaping basic neuronal processes, and the scientific literature is beginning to present a more complex picture of the relationship between brain, body and society.
Despite this apparent shift, biological explanations of normal and deviant behaviour continue to gain ground in many areas, including the media and the clinic. In particular, many mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, that were previously seen as having an important psychosocial component, are increasingly portrayed as arising from abnormal neurochemistry and are being mapped directly onto anomalies in the brain. Such beliefs have been strengthened by the widespread use of new psychotropic drugs, such as the SSRIs.
Within the social sciences and humanities there has been a long history of critique of biological determinism, but at the same time a widespread acceptance that developments in the biological sciences will reshape both personal identities and social structures. There has also been an important strand of work looking at the representation and cultural framing of scientific ideas through the analysis of scientific texts, media and popular fiction. This work has highlighted the often permeable boundary between the ‘cultural' and the ‘scientific', and the way in which scientific ideas draw on important cultural tropes and metaphors.
This seminar aims to explore the representation of scientific ideas and the broader relationship between science, culture and the application of new knowledge by reviewing current debates about what might be called neurogenetic determinism. In particular, it will address a number of key questions:
To what extent have deterministic ideas within the brain sciences and genetics been replaced by more complex and holistic models? Are previous critiques of biological determinism still valid in relation to the new sciences of the brain?
How are we to understand the nature and implications of the ways in which scientific ideas about the brain are represented, in both science itself and the broader culture? Are natural scientists, social scientists and the public held captive by the ‘information metaphor', which is reinforced by the idea that the brain is an information processing system?
What are the implications of these developments for clinical practice – in particular, to what extent is psychiatry becoming grounded in beliefs about the determining role of biology in aetiology, symptomatology, prognosis and treatment?
What is the role of social scientists in relation to these developments – to provide critique of the ‘political' or ‘socially constructed' nature of many knowledge claims or to help build better models within the sciences?
This seminar aims to bring together leading researchers from the biological sciences, clinical medicine, linguistics, media and cultural studies, and sociology to explore the representation and implications of key scientific ideas.
Speakers:
Prof. Brigitte Nerlich (ISS, University of Nottingham) on Metaphors and Images in Individual and Popular Consciousness and Imagination
Professor Emily Martin (Professor of Anthropology, New York University, author of Bipolar Expeditions: Toward An Anthropology Of Moods, forthcoming) on neurogenetic reductionism in culture and representations.
Dr Tim Kendall (Co-Director of the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, Deputy Director of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Research Unit, Medical Director of Sheffield Care Trust, and a Consultant Psychiatrist) on neurogenetic reductionism in contemporary psychiatric thought and practice
The meeting will be introduced by Dr Paul Martin (ISS) and Professor Nikolas Rose (BIOS).