Neuroscience and Sociology: Integration Versus Reductionism
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5428-0605
Abstract
This Article explores the current collaboration and future potential for integration between sociology and neuroscience. It addresses the central question: Do the conceptual frameworks of neuroscience and sociology inherently allow for integrative approaches? To answer this systematically, the study traces key conceptual milestones that have shaped the interaction between the two fields, emphasizing ideas over a strict chronological narrative. The analysis begins with the initial attempt of integration through the formulation of “Neurosociology” in 1972, followed by a setback with the emergence of the Sociobiology paradigm in 1975, which prompted sociologists to defend the epistemological integrity and uniqueness of the social domain. Interdisciplinary anticipation persisted until the advent of social neuroscience in the early 1990s, supported by substantial funding in the United States and later expanding to Europe and China during the so-called “Decade of the Brain”. This development facilitated significant neuroscientific research and the emergence of novel neural theories, extending to the understanding of individual behavior and social phenomena traditionally examined by sociology. The paper concludes with an illustration of explaining social inequalities through the integration of sociological and neuroscientific perspectives, along with recommendations to alleviate sociologists’ concerns about losing the distinctiveness of their discipline when adopting neural frameworks.
Metrics
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Social NeurosciencesMirror NeuronsEpistemologySocial Brain
Brothers, Leslie. “The social brain: A project for integrating primate behavior and neurophysiology in new domain.” In: John Cacioppo and et al (eds.), Foundations in social neuroscience. Massachusetts Institute of technology: The MIT Press, Massachusetts, 2002.
Cacioppo, J. T. & Berntson, G. G. “Social psychological contributions to the decade of the brain. Doctrine of multilevel analysis”, American PSychologist, Vol. 47, No. 8 (August 1992), pp. 1019-1028. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.47.8.1019
Cacioppo, J. T. & Patrick, W. Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social connection. New York: W. W. Norton, 2009.
Cherkaoui, Mohamed. La sociologie de l’éducation. Paris: QUE SAIS JE, 2010.
Creel, S. & Sands, J. L. “Is social stress a consequence of subordination or cost of dominance?” In: F. B. M., Waal &P.L. Tyack (eds.), Animal social complexity: intelligence, culture and individual society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2003.
Davis, Jeff. “Persistent inequality: A neurosociological perspective,” In: David D. Franks & Jonathan H. Turner (eds.), Handbook of neurosociology. Dordrecht, Heidelberg, New York, London: Springer, 2013.
Dunabr, Robin. “The social brain hypothesis.” In: John Cacioppo, et al. (eds.), Foundations in social neuroscience. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology: The MIT Press, 2002.
Durkheim, Emile. Les règles de la méthode sociologique. Paris: Félix Alcan Editeur, 1895.
Ehrenberg, Alain. “Le cerveau ‘social’: Chimère épistémologique et vérité sociologique,” Esprit, Vol. 341 (2008), pp. 79-103. https://doi.org/10.3917/espri.0801.0079
Forest, Denis. “Histoire des aphasies”, Figures de la psychanalyse, No. 13 (2006), pp 245-247. https://doi.org/10.3917/fp.013.0245
Frank, David D. Neurosociology: Fundamentals and current findings. New York, London: Springer, 2019.
Frith, Chris D. “The social brain?” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Vol. 362 )2007), pp. 671- 678. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.2003
Gazzaniga, Michael S. The social brain. Discovering the networks of the mind. New York: Basic Books, 1985.
Lacoboni, Marco & et al. “Grasping the intentions of others with one’s own mirror neuron system.” Plos Biology. Vol. 3 No. 3 (2005), pp. 529-535. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.0030079
Lizardo, Omar. “Mirror neurons, collective objects and the problem of transmission: reconsidering Stephen Turner’s critique of practice theory,” Journal of the theory of social behavior, Vol. 37, Issue3 (2007), pp. 319-350. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.2007.00340.x
Maryanski, Alexandra. “The secret of the hominin mind: An evolutionary story.” In: David D. Franks & Jonathan H. Turner (eds.), Handbook of Neurosociology. Dordrecht, Heidelberg, New York, LLondon: Springer 2013.
Mauss, Marcel. Sociologie et anthropologie. Paris: PUF, 1934.
Menchaca, Martha. Mexican outsiders: A community history of marginalisation and discrimination in California. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.
Ogien, Albert. “Les sciences cognitives ne sont pas des sciences humaines: Une réponse à «Vers un naturalisme social» de Laurence Kaufman et Laurent Cordonier,” Sociologie (2011). https://doi.org/10.4000/sociologies.3635
–––. “Normativité social et normativité neuronale: La découverte des ‘neurones miroirs’ et ses usages en sociologie,” Revue française en sociologie. Vol. 51, No. 4 (2010), pp. 667- 691. https://doi.org/10.3917/rfs.514.0667
Owen, J. E. Tenhouten, Warren D. and Kaplan, Charles D. “Science and Its Mirror Image: A Theory of Inquiry.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 412, No.1, (1974). pp. 240-255. https://doi.org/10.1177/000271627441200176.
Panese, Francesco, Arminjon, Mathieu, & Pidoux, Vincent. La fabrique du sujet entre cerveau et société: Tensions critiques. Neuchâtel: Université de Neuchâtel, MAPS, 2017.
Rizzolatti, Giacomo & Craighero, Laila. “The mirror-neuron system.” Annuaire Review Neuroscience. Vol. 27 (2004), pp. 169-192. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.neuro.27.070203.144230
Rizzolatti, Giacomo & Matelli, Massimo. “Two different streams form the dorsal visual system: anatomy and functions,” Experimental Brain Research, Vol. 153, No. 2 (2003), pp. 146-157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-003-1588-0
Rizzolatti, Giacomo & Sinigaglia, Corrado. Mirrors in the brain: How our minds share actions and emotions. Oxford: Oxford University press, 2008.
Rose, Nikolas & Abi-Rached, Joelle M. Neuro: The new brain science and the management of the mind. U.S.A, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
Ruelland, Jacques G. L'empire des Gene: Histoire de la sociobiologie. France: Lyon, 2004.
Tenhouten, Warren D. & et al. “The other side of the brain the A-P ratio, Vol. IV.” Bulletin of the Los Angeles neurological societies. Vol. 37, No. 2(1972), pp.49-61.
Tilly, Charles. Durable inequality. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998.
Turner, Stephen. The social theory of practices: tradition, tacit knowledge and presuppositions. London: Polity Press, 1994.
Weber, Max. Economie et société. Paris: Plon, 1971.
Wilson, Edward O. Sociobiology: The New Synthesis. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1975.