Brain and Culture: Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change

by Bruce E. Wexler

Research shows that between birth and early adulthood the brain requires sensory stimulation to develop physically. The nature of the stimulation shapes the connections among neurons that create the neuronal networks necessary for thought and behavior. By changing the cultural environment, each generation shapes the brains of the next. By early adulthood, the neuroplasticity of the brain is greatly reduced, and this leads to a fundamental shift in the relationship between the individual and the during the first part of life, the brain and mind shape themselves to the major recurring features of their environment; by early adulthood, the individual attempts to make the environment conform to the established internal structures of the brain and mind. In Brain and Culture , Bruce Wexler explores the social implications of the close and changing neurobiological relationship between the individual and the environment, with particular attention to the difficulties individuals face in adulthood when the environment changes beyond their ability to maintain the fit between existing internal structure and external reality. These difficulties are evident in bereavement, the meeting of different cultures, the experience of immigrants (in which children of immigrant families are more successful than their parents at the necessary internal transformations), and the phenomenon of interethnic violence. Integrating recent neurobiological research with major experimental findings in cognitive and developmental psychology—with illuminating references to psychoanalysis, literature, anthropology, history, and politics—Wexler presents a wealth of detail to support his arguments. The groundbreaking connections he makes allow for reconceptualization of the effect of cultural change on the brain and provide a new biological base from which to consider such social issues as "culture wars" and ethnic violence.

Genres: Science, Psychology, Neuroscience, Nonfiction, Sociology, Social Science

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2006

Reviews

[Michael Steger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent little book that, as its title and sub-title suggest, covers a lot of territory in a mere 300 pages.

Approximately two-thirds of the book is devoted to establishing and supporting the author's primary hypothesis, which may be summarized as follows: When human beings are young (i.e. from fetal development to infancy through puberty) their brains are highly plastic, and internal neural structures are created in response to external stimuli; as adults (i.e. post-puberty), human brains become significantly less plastic, and human adults expend a great deal of energy attempting to make the external world 'fit' with their internal cognitive structures. Thus, the external world initially shapes the internal world of the brain and mind (the frontal-lobe activity of a child's parents shapes to great extent the frontal-lobe funtion of the child); and, subsequently, the internal world of the brain and mind work to shape the external world (or, at least, to maintain stability and to keep stress and tension to a minimum).

The first part of this hypothesis is supported by reference to a number of behavioral and sensory-deprivation studies conducted over the course of the late 20th century that would seem to indicate overwhelmingly that the human brain requires external stimuli to develop normally (e.g., as in language learning and development; in cases where children were brought up in near-total isolation, without human interaction, those children seem to have lost the capacity to learn language). The second part of this hypothesis, about the less plastic mature brain, is supported by reference mainly to first-person accounts by people who were forced to emigrate from one culture to another, relatively different culture, and by people who have lost spouses-- both situations are said to illustrate how the brain/ mind confront extreme changes in the external environment. For the most part, these arguments are convincing (and tend to support the experience of this reader, and perhaps that of most readers).

The last third of this book expands to discuss the implications for culture of the notion that the young brain is 'malleable,' while the adult brain is fundamentally conservative (i.e. seeks to avoid radical changes in the external environment). Here, the book remains highly interesting but the author's argument feels less compelling, and the reason for this, I think, is that culture is simply too complex a phenomenon to reduce to simple functions, as the author was able to do convincingly with the single brain interacting with the environment. Essentially, the author describes how cultures, when they interact with one another in 'contact zones,' tend to come into conflict because the adult members of the different cultures are functioning with relatively different cognitive structures, and those cognitive structures are, by and large, resistant to change. On the other hand, there seems to be more hope for smoother, more peaceful, cultural interaction when the younger members of different cultures interact, given that the younger members will have more plastic brains, the cognitive structures of which are more subject to change in response to external stimuli.

Over all, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the brain and cognitive studies and, to a lesser degree, to those readers interested in sociology and anthropology. The author's tone is generally dry, such as the tone one finds in articles for academic and scientific journals, though there are occasional glimpses of humor. There is a brief discussion of Henry James, who wrote with disdain about visiting Ellis Island and, while there, perceiving how the population of America was changing through immigration (much to the horror of the conservative James); there is also a brief discussion of Captain Cook's death in the Hawaiian islands, and Marshall Sahlins's controversial theory that Cook was killed by the natives due to a fundamental cultural misunderstanding.

One of the aspects of this book that I liked in particular is that the author, Bruce Wexler, occasionally draws upon pschoanalytic theory and practice to give concrete examples of concepts he describes. I have come to expect writers interested in neuroscience and cognitive theory to show contempt for psychoanalysis. By contrast, Wexler (who is Professor of Psychiatry at Yale Medical Center and Director of the Neurocognitive Research Laboratory at the Connecticut Mental Health Center) suggests that much data from pschoanalytic research accords with data obtained from behavioral experiments and neuroscientific research. (In the section on how adult brains have difficulty coping with extreme changes in the external environment, as exemplified by the death of a spouse, Wexler cites Freud's 'Mourning and Melancholia,' though he does not use Freud as the basis of his own argument.)

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of the book is how a person's environment influences the developmental structuring of his brain's neurons, neural systems and resulting perceptions - up until young adulthood. After this stage, the degree to which one's environment causes changes in the brain and beliefs declines, and increasingly one tends to conceive of one's environment in terms of previously acquired beliefs.

The book uses scientific experiments on animals (especially for kinds of experiments which would not be permitted on humans.) There are also studies of human infant development. While some kinds of sensory deprivation / surgically removal were only possible on animals, some kinds of human sensory deprivation / restoration were possible (both such things as sensory deprivation tanks and studies of people with sensory disabilities.)

At a certain point, the book also adds psychoanalytical understandings of the incorporation of physical and social environments into an individual's development of personality elements.

Around the time of one's teen years, a person tends to use pieces of worldview that have been taken in from various parts of the environment, and mix & match or mold together his personal path and beliefs. (There are repeated references to the changes happening around the time of sexual maturity, but there is no discussion of effects on animals or humans who never develop sexually.)

The book discusses how once a person establishes beliefs / identity in being a supporter of a particular sports team or political party, their interpretation of new evidence is biased by their affiliation even in situations where there is no practical benefit for the individual.

Experiments show that even when subjects are only exposed to images for too short a time to be consciously aware of it, being exposed to image X 25 times and being exposed to image Y only 2 times made a difference. When later shown the images so that the subjects were conscious of them, they had a more favorable opinion of image X. Familiarity can make us have a more positive view.

Once a person has an established preference, habit or belief, experiments show he uses evidence selectively, re-interprets evidence and/or forgets evidence in order to maintain that preference, habit or belief.

Experiments show that subjects who are made part of a group (even though they have not previously known the others) will tend to give incorrect answers when most members of the group give that incorrect answer. Also, subjects put in a group will tend to be critical of other members who won't agree with the views expressed by the rest of the group. (I've tended to view the general acceptance of one's particular society's premises as resulting from a desire to conceive of the world as essentially benign. This suggests that it is at least partly something like peer pressure - only an internal motivation to be consistent with peers. However, in modern societies with mainstream media continually repeating the society's premises, people get a more active or pervasive presentation of what is the norm which they should accept.)

Immigrants are faced with dissonance between the internalized culture of their home culture and the new culture which has inconsistencies with that. In order to reduce the dissonance, immigrants often try to surround themselves with people and elements of their previous culture. Children brought over at an early age or born in the new country internalize significant parts of the new culture and may even feel dissonance when faced with their parent's culture.

The book gives examples of how when one culture first encounters a previously unknown culture, it misinterprets the new culture and its elements using the framework of the observers' culture. It seemed to me the book only viewed this as dissonance or rigidity. It seems to me that when encountering something new, humans will try to deduce information based on one's previous (incomplete) knowledge - regardless of whether outside cultures are involved. But over the course of time after the first encounter, psychology / neurology plays a role in that we integrate less new knowledge when it is associated with those outside "our group."

There is an extended discussion of conflicts between groups with different religions. The book suggests that the difference in beliefs is the essential factor. I'm inclined to believe that it's common for people to be biased against those of other beliefs. However, I'm not convinced that it is typical, regardless of other circumstances, for people to be willing to risk their lives to act upon those biases. I would at least want to see a discussion on whether it is at times of social distress which lead people to seek scapegoats - picking scapegoats based on biases which do not lead to scapegoating in times of social content. In other words, I suspect there are times when we "need" to blame someone, and tend to blame those we can view as "them," but our minds don't always "need" to blame "them."

[Melsene G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice quick read, finally. The book starts with brain basics. Then we head into sensory stimulation which is needed for normal brain development. Studies and tests were done on rats,, cats, and monkeys and the conclusion is that the environment is very important for brain development. First borns have higher IQs and kids do better in 2 child families because they get more motherly attention.

Chapter 3 talks about the mother-infant relationship and how important it is, including bodily contact which is more important than feeding.

Brains seem to more neuroplastic when we're young, up to adolescence. They always sight the ability to learn another language is best when you're pre-K, grade school. Change is more difficult the older we get. There's info on bereavement and immigration-both are hard to adapt.

We move on to cultures and the internal vs. the external. Examples of violence include Rwanda, Europeans, Crusades, etc. Conflicts are over belief systems, not so much land, etc. Symbols matter and are either destroyed or preserved. There are over 5,000 languages today and more than 3,000 are in danger of extinction. Indigenous peoples are threatened-(always seems to be the case.) A bit of anti-US culture talk, however, in my judgment the powerful are always a target. If we weren't speaking English, we'd be speaking something else and be a slave to some other culture.

In sum, this book shows how the brain is affected by culture and upbringing and hits home the importance of good parenting.

[Paul Signorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bruce Wexler’s "Brain and Culture, Neurobiology, Ideology, and Social Change," like Norman Doidge's book "The Brain That Changes Itself," literally opens our minds. A highly detailed research-based view of how our brain works, Wexler's book is essential reading for those of us immersed in training-teaching-learning. It's as much about how we're wired as anything else, Wexler and Doidge seem to agree. And there's nothing simple about any of this. Wexler's experiments suggest that our emotional reactions can change the physical connections within our brains--an idea that reminds us of the importance of fostering emotional reactions within our learning opportunities instead of relying solely on a rational fill-'em-with-information approach. His comments about the importance of providing environments that are stimulating rather than sterile suggest that we're on the wrong track with many of sterile learning labs and drab workshop settings that remain prevalent in training-teaching-learning today. He builds a case for paying more attention to our actual learning environments when he reports that studies "in both cats and monkeys have found that animals raised in enriched environments perform much better on tests of frontal lobe function than animals raised in less stimulating environments" (p. 52). And he builds a strong case for incorporating play into our learning processes since it "appears to affect cognitive development, even in rats and even when the play is primarily motoric." In biological terms, "the whole of formal education is perhaps most appropriately seen as a human extension of play," Wexler suggests (p. 66). And I suspect our learners will be grateful and more successful than they already are if this is a reminder that we take to heart.

[Craig Werner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strictly for information. Wexler's major argument is that neurobiology is shaped primarily (but not exclusively) by external inputs, especially contact with parents and, in turn, the surrounding culture. He argues that after the childhood period when brains are quite elastic and adaptable, we settle into fixed patterns which lead us to resist any dissonance between the external world and our established psychic structures. He refers to this resistance as "ideology" and argues that it's a largely unavoidable source of resistance to social change.

The strength of the book lies in Wexler's scientific research; he cites numerous studies which demonstrate the impact of attention and isolation on young mammals and establishes his thesis on the impact of external input clearly, though it's probably not as original as he appears to think. When he turns to cultural forces, which he approaches via Freudian psychology, the book runs out of steam. While he draws on many sources, he's not a good social thinker and I finally just decided to skim the last couple of chapters.

The writing's clear in a slogging sort of way. I'm not sure you'd lose much except for detail if you simply read the chapter summaries.

[Lincoln · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as amazing as "The Brain That Changes Itself" but interesting. I was expecting some more analysis of modern culture and brain change but there most likely is not enough research right now to give the subject matter I am interested in.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally thought-provoking and totally readable. I felt like after reading this book I became better able to look at social issues with a more solid understanding of the biology behind it all. Plus, if I wanted to learn more Wexler was thorough enough to include good notes at the end.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I'll say is this: judging from the amount of sentences I noted in the category of "this is important write this down," well, I'd say this guy's a keeper. And then some. Sometimes prolix, sometimes jargon dependent, but always, always willing to risk and engage with something new and valuable.

[Victor Delclos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the easiest read but a grounded, thoughtful and intelligent discussion of the exploding field of neuroscience that doesn't go overboard about what we know.

[Jimmy In]

A remarkable book that relates the latest findings of neuroscience to cultural history.