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Toriz H, Fagetti A, Terán-Pérez G, Mercadillo RE. Neuroanthropology of shamanic trance: a case study with a ritual specialist from Mexico. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1325188. [PMID: 38505362 PMCID: PMC10948424 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1325188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
In Mexico, shamans are recognized for the gift of entering a deep trance that allows them to know the origin of the diseases and conflicts that afflict people. They commonly treat patients through limpias (cleansing) to extract negative elements sent by a witch or that were "collected" in places that harbor "evil winds." We present a case study of an 81-year-old Mexican shaman who noticed her gift in childhood. Electroencephalographic recordings were made while the shaman performed three activities: reading cards to diagnose a patient and answer the questions he posed; limpia with chicken eggs, stones, and bells to absorb adverse "things"; and the incorporation trance through which the deceased is believed to occupy the shaman's body to use it as a communication channel. Alpha activity was observed when concentrated, suggesting a hypnagogic-like state. Predominant beta and gamma oscillations were observed, suggesting a potential plastic phenomenon that modulates the assimilation of external and internal referents guiding temporal schemes for action, attention, and the integration of mnemonic, sensory, and imaginative elements. We used a neuroanthropological approach to understand shamanic trance as a biological potential of the human brain to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness linked to cultural beliefs and practices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Toriz
- National School of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Antonella Fagetti
- Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, Mexico
| | | | - Roberto E. Mercadillo
- Neurosciences Area, Biology of Reproduction Department, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City, Mexico
- CONAHCYT, Mexico City, Mexico
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Lende DH, Casper BI, Hoyt KB, Collura GL. Elements of Neuroanthropology. Front Psychol 2021; 12:509611. [PMID: 34712160 PMCID: PMC8545903 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.509611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2019] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuroanthropology is the integration of neuroscience into anthropology and aims to understand “brains in the wild.” This interdisciplinary field examines patterns of human variation in field settings and provides empirical research that complements work done in clinical and laboratory settings. Neuroanthropology often uses ethnography in combination with theories and methods from cognitive science as a way to capture how culture, mind, and brain interact. This article describes nine elements that outline how to do neuroanthropology research: (1) integrating biology and culture through neuroscience and biocultural anthropology; (2) extending focus of anthropology on what people say and do to include what people process; (3) sizing culture appropriately, from broad patterns of culture to culture in small-scale settings; (4) understanding patterns of cultural variation, in particular how culture produces patterns of shared variation; (5) considering individuals in interaction with culture, with levels of analysis that can go from biology to social structures; (6) focusing on interactive elements that bring together biological and cultural processes; (7) conceptual triangulation, which draws on anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience in conjunction with field, clinic, and laboratory; (8) critical complementarity as a way to integrate the strengths of critical scholarship with interdisciplinary work; and (9) using methodological triangulation as a way to advance interdisciplinary research. These elements are illustrated through three case studies: research on US combat veterans and how they use Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a way to manage the transition to becoming civilians, work on human-raptor interactions to understand how and why these interactions can prove beneficial for human handlers, and adapting cue reactivity research on addiction to a field-based approach to understand how people interact with cues in naturalistic settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H Lende
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Breanne I Casper
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Kaleigh B Hoyt
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
| | - Gino L Collura
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States
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Apud I, Romaní O. Medical anthropology and symbolic cure: from the placebo to cultures of meaningful healing. Anthropol Med 2019; 27:160-175. [PMID: 31569965 DOI: 10.1080/13648470.2019.1649542] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The perspectives of medical anthropology on symbolic cure are crucial for understanding placebo mechanisms on the medical agenda. However, while classic biomedical conceptions of the placebo discredited cultural factors as legitimate therapeutic tools, the anthropological critical approach confronted this perspective in the opposite way, rejecting the role of neurobiological factors, and using culture as a self-contained phenomenon. This manuscript is a review of the symbolic healing, stressing the importance of an integrated and interdisciplinary study of the placebo response, and the need to go beyond both biological and cultural reductionisms. Various perspectives from medical anthropology will be described, ranging from classical to multilevel perspectives that enable consideration of the placebo in its neurobiological, psychological and cultural dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ismael Apud
- Medical Anthropology Research Center, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.,Universidad de la Republica Uruguay, Facultad de Psicología, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Oriol Romaní
- Department of Anthropology, Philosophy and Social Work, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
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Burbank V, Senior K, McMullen S. Is it agency? An integrative interpretation of female adolescents’ sexual behaviour in three remote Australian Aboriginal communities. THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/taja.12292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Dien J, Karuzis V, Haarmann HJ. Probing culture in the head: the neural correlates of relational models. Soc Neurosci 2018; 13:648-666. [PMID: 29614912 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2018.1459313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
Relational Models Theory or RMT proposes that there are four universal ways in which socio-economic relations can be organized. According to the RMT, each of its four relational models (Communal Sharing, Authority Ranking, Equality Matching, and Market Pricing) is associated with a distinct cognitive representation, with a cumulative pattern in which each relational model is a superset of the next lower model. This report for the first time uses a combination of cognitive and the social neuroscience to put this model to the test. RMT proposes that members of every culture use all four relational models, just in different proportions. It should therefore be possible to study their neural correlates in a mono-cultural sample. In this study, thirty-nine European-American students were imaged in a 3T Siemens Trio with a 24-channel head coil while rating the extent to which each relational model organized relationships with each of thirty-two acquaintances/friend/relatives in a boxcar design. FreeSurfer Functional Analysis Stream (FS-FAST) analyses revealed distinct patterns of activation for each of the relational models. The activations did not follow a cumulative hierarchical pattern, suggestive that this aspect of the RMT model should be revised.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Dien
- a Maryland Neuroimaging Center , University of Maryland , College Park , MD , USA
| | - Valerie Karuzis
- b Center for Advanced Study of Language , University of Maryland , College Park , Maryland , USA
| | - Henk J Haarmann
- b Center for Advanced Study of Language , University of Maryland , College Park , Maryland , USA
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Language readiness and learning among deaf children. Behav Brain Sci 2018; 40:e67. [PMID: 29342522 DOI: 10.1017/s0140525x15003027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
We applaud Goldin-Meadow & Brentari's (G-M&B's) significant efforts to consider the linkages between sign, gesture, and language. Research on deaf children and sign language acquisition can broaden the G-M&B approach by considering how language readiness is also a social phenomenon and that distinctions between imagistic and categorical formats rely on language practices and contexts.
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Frödin O. Attention schema theory, an interdisciplinary turn? Cognition, culture and institutions. ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY 2016. [DOI: 10.1177/1463499616678484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Moving beyond the distinction between biological and social facts has proved challenging due to several basic methodological and ontological differences among scientific disciplines. The aim of this paper is to show how attention schema theory (hereafter AST), developed by Michael Graziano, provides a useful addition to existing integrative approaches that can be used to overcome impediments to interdisciplinary cross-fertilization, such that the influence of a range of interconnected institutional, situational, biographical, psychological, neural and genetic variables can be considered simultaneously in a parsimonious way. The paper provides an overview of three basic methodological and ontological differences dividing scientists researching human nature and society. It then draws on AST and a selection of existing approaches in the interdisciplinary vein to demonstrate how to move beyond the reductionist tendencies of each discipline. In the view of AST, intrinsic brain processes and social and situational aspects are intricately intertwined and continuously influence each other in shaping specific attentional focuses. Social identities, biographical experiences, symbols, roles and subject positions contribute to directing attention to certain kinds of stimuli, details, or information, while at the same time, intrinsic predispositions make individuals inclined to attend to different types of information. By accounting for the brain basis of awareness as a subjective experience, AST can be used to clarify how social identities influence attention, and thus, the linkages between individual cognition and wider institutional structures. Finally, the paper considers the relationships between the cognitive and the institutional levels of analysis, and highlights the importance of the latter as a distinct level of analysis. In this way, the paper charts the multidirectional and interactive causal relationship between intrinsic brain processes, attention and conscious awareness, and how they relate to wider institutional structures and joint attentional interactions at higher levels of aggregation.
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Vogl J, Heine AM, Steinhoff N, Weiss K, Tucek G. Neuroscientific and neuroanthropological perspectives in music therapy research and practice with patients with disorders of consciousness. Front Neurosci 2015; 9:273. [PMID: 26300720 PMCID: PMC4523786 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 07/17/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A growing understanding of music therapy with patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC) has developed from observing behavioral changes and using these to gain new ways of experiencing this research environment and setting. Neuroscience provides further insight into the effects of music therapy; however, various studies with similar protocols show different results. The neuroanthropological approach is informed by anthropological and philosophical frameworks. It puts emphasis on a research with and not just on human beings concerning the subject/object question within a research process. It examines relational aspects and outcomes in the context of working in an interdisciplinary team. This allows a broader view of music therapy in a reflective process and leads to a careful interpretation of behavioral reactions and imaging results. This article discusses the importance of the neuroanthropological perspective on our way of obtaining knowledge and its influence on therapeutic practice. It is important to consider how knowledge is generated as it influences the results. Data from two cases will be presented to illustrate the neuroanthropological approach by comparing quantitative PET data with qualitative results of video analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Vogl
- Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna Vienna, Austria
| | - Astrid M Heine
- Department of Music Therapy, IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems, Austria
| | - Nikolaus Steinhoff
- OptimaMed Neurological Rehabilitation Kittsee, Austria ; Department of Neurology, Regional Hospital Hochegg Grimmenstein, Austria
| | - Konrad Weiss
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Regional Hospital Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt, Austria
| | - Gerhard Tucek
- Department of Music Therapy, IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems, Austria
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Mercadillo RE, Galvez V, Díaz R, Paredes L, Velázquez-Moctezuma J, Hernandez-Castillo CR, Fernandez-Ruiz J. Social and Cultural Elements Associated with Neurocognitive Dysfunctions in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2 Patients. Front Psychiatry 2015; 6:90. [PMID: 26113822 PMCID: PMC4462049 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2014] [Accepted: 05/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 2 (SCA2) is a rare genetic disorder producing cerebellar degeneration and affecting motor abilities. Neuroimaging studies also show neurodegeneration in subcortical and cortical regions related to emotional and social processes. From social neuroscience, it is suggested that motor and social abilities can be influenced by particular cultural dynamics so, culture is fundamental to understand the effect of brain-related alterations. Here, we present the first analysis about the cultural elements related to the SCA2 disorder in 15 patients previously evaluated with neuroimaging and psychometric instruments, and their nuclear relationships distributed in six geographical and cultural regions in Mexico. Ethnographic records and photographic and video archives about the quotidian participant's routine were obtained from the patients, their relatives and their caregivers. The information was categorized and interpreted taking into consideration cultural issues and patients' medical files. Our analyses suggest that most of the participants do not understand the nature of the disease and this misunderstanding favors magic and non-medical explanations. Patients' testimonies suggest a decrease in pain perception as well as motor alterations that may be related to interoceptive dysfunctions. Relatives' testimonies indicate patients' lack of social and emotional interests that may be related to frontal, temporal, and cerebellar degeneration. In general, participants use their religious beliefs to deal with the disease and only a few of them trust the health system. Patients and their families are either openly rejected and ignored, tolerated or even helped by their community accordingly to different regional traits. We propose that ethnography can provide social representations to understand the patients' alterations, to formulate neurobiological hypotheses, to develop neurocognitive interventions, and to improve the medical approach to the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Emmanuele Mercadillo
- Laboratorio de Neuropsicología, Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Mexico City , Mexico ; Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología-Cátedras , Mexico City , Mexico ; Área de Neurociencias, Departamento de Biología de la Reproducción, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa , Mexico City , Mexico
| | - Víctor Galvez
- Posgrado en Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana , Xalapa , Mexico
| | - Rosalinda Díaz
- Laboratorio de Neuropsicología, Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Mexico City , Mexico
| | - Lorena Paredes
- Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Mexico City , Mexico
| | - Javier Velázquez-Moctezuma
- Área de Neurociencias, Departamento de Biología de la Reproducción, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa , Mexico City , Mexico
| | - Carlos R Hernandez-Castillo
- Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología-Cátedras , Mexico City , Mexico ; Instituto de Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana , Xalapa , Mexico
| | - Juan Fernandez-Ruiz
- Laboratorio de Neuropsicología, Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Mexico City , Mexico ; Posgrado en Neuroetología, Universidad Veracruzana , Xalapa , Mexico ; Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Veracruzana , Xalapa , Mexico
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Kriegler S, Bester SE. A critical engagement with the DSM-5 and psychiatric diagnosis. JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY IN AFRICA 2014. [DOI: 10.1080/14330237.2014.980629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Susan Kriegler
- Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Suzanne E Bester
- Department of Educational Psychology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
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Abstract
Psychiatric medication, or psychotropics, are increasingly prescribed for people of all ages by both psychiatry and primary care doctors for a multitude of mental health and/or behavioral disorders, creating a sharp rise in polypharmacy (i.e., multiple medications). This paper explores the clinical reality of modern psychotropy at the level of the prescribing doctor and clinical exchanges with patients. Part I, Geographies of High Prescribing, documents the types of factors (pharmaceutical-promotional, historical, cultural, etc.) that can shape specific psychotropic landscapes. Ethnographic attention is focused on high prescribing in Japan in the 1990s and more recently in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in the US. These examples help to identify factors that have converged over time to produce specific kinds of branded psychotropic profiles in specific locales. Part II, Pharmaceutical Detox, explores a new kind of clinical work being carried out by pharmaceutically conscious doctors, which reduces the number of medications being prescribed to patients while re-diagnosing their mental illnesses. A high-prescribing psychiatrist in southeast Wisconsin is highlighted to illustrate a kind of med-checking taking place at the level of individual patients. These various examples and cases call for a renewed emphasis by anthropology to critically examine the "total efficacies" of modern pharmaceuticals and to continue to disaggregate mental illness categories in the Boasian tradition. This type of detox will require a holistic approach, incorporating emergent fields such as neuroanthropology and other kinds of creative collaborations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Oldani
- Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Whitewater, WI, USA,
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