Neuroanthropology

Neuroanthropology is the analyse of a relationship between culture & the brain.

History

Neuroanthropology got revived as a field of explore during a 2008 American Anthropological Association conference session. The session was titled "The Encultured Brain: Neuroanthropology and Interdisciplinary Engagement". In the past, neuroscience and anthropology existed as two separate disciplines that worked together only when necessary. During the 2008 AAA conference session, the need for a study intersecting both fields of study was brought forth with claims that culture directly impacts brain development.

The lecture assumption by Daniel Lende at the 2008 AAA conference session specifically revolved around the benefits the field of anthropology would make if they incorporated neuroscience into the field. As Lende stated, studying the brain would provide us some answers as to why individuals behave the way they do. Essentially, Lende argues that neuroanthropology would allow anthropologists to tackle questions that were before unable to be answered. These were questions that were first proposed by Franz Boas and Bronislaw Malinowski as they tried to study what motivates individuals and what becomes a desire. In short, according to Lende, combining anthropology and neuroscience into neuroanthropology would allowed individuals to study why individuals make the matters they do.