Providing a new perspective on human brain functional organization, this book examines how sociocultural experience interacts with genes in shaping brain and behavior. Reviewing numerous studies, it considers the nature of the human brain and implications for education, cross-cultural conflict, and the clinical treatment of mental disorders.

This Handbook examines disparities in public health by highlighting recent theoretical and methodological advances in cultural neuroscience. It traces the interactions of cultural, biological, and environmental factors that create adverse physical and mental health conditions among populations, and investigates how the policies of cultural and governmental institutions influence such outcomes. In addition to providing an overview of the current research, chapters demonstrate how a cultural neuroscience approach to the study of the mind, brain, and behavior can help stabilize the quality of health of societies at large. The volume will appeal especially to graduate students and professional scholars working in psychology and population genetics. The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Neuroscience represents the first collection of scholarly contributions from the International Cultural Neuroscience Consortium (ICNC), an interdisciplinary group of scholars from epidemiology, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience, genetics, and psychiatry dedicated to advancing an understanding of culture and health using theory and methods from cultural neuroscience. The Handbook is intended to introduce future generations of scholars to foundations in cultural neuroscience, and to equip them to address the grand challenges in global mental health in the twenty-first century.

Whether the judgements translators of different language works make are normative and somehow wrapped up in societal values that change with time or social positioning is the subject of these contributions. Two main contributions from English and Israeli scholars are presented which argue that the concept of norms should be the primary analytical tool for understanding everything from the choices of words to regularly appearing patterns in writing. Seven brief responses and counter-responses follow. Also included are the transcripts of two debates on the topic. Distributed by Taylor and Francis. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The ebook edition of this title is Open Access, thanks to Knowledge Unlatched funding, and freely available to read online. This book investigates the profound effects 21st century digital technology is having on our individual and collective lives and seeks to confront the realities of a new digital age.

Bringing the science of psychology to life! The 2nd Australasian edition of Psychology and Life emphasises the science of psychology, with a special focus on applying that science to students’ everyday lives. As a result, the features of Psychology and Life support a central theme: psychology as a science, with a focus on applying that science to real life experiences. Australasian research, examples and statistics help make the theory even more relevant for today’s students. Psychology and Life 2e provides a rigorous, research-centred survey of the discipline while offering students special features and learning aids that will make the science of psychology relevant, spark their interest and excite their imaginations.

The new edition of this respected work presents a comprehensive review of basic mechanisms of fetal and neonatal brain development.

Sexual difference in the brain has long been one of the more intriguing research areas in the field of neuroscience. This thorough and comprehensive text uncovers and explains recent neurobiological and molecular biological studies in the field of neuroscience as they relate to the mechanisms underlying sexual differentiation of the brain. Attempts have been made to clarify sex differences in the human brain using noninvasive techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging. Sexual Differentiation of the Brain thoroughly examines these techniques and findings, providing an up-to-date, comprehensive overview written by leading researchers in the field. Just a few of the topics addressed include genetic contributions to the sexual differentiation of behavior; in-vitro studies of the effects of estrogen on estrogen receptor-transfected neuroblastoma cells; and the evolution of brain mechanisms controlling sexual behavior. Other topics include sexual differentiation of neural circuitry in the hypothalamus; structural sex differences in the mammalian brain; and sexual differentiation of cognitive functions in humans. With its revealing and informative chapters, as well as provocative treatment of the subject matter, Sexual Differentiation of the Brain helps shed new light on one of the most fascinating areas of brain research.

Why Context Matters in Educational Leadership: A New Theoretical Understanding is unique in the field of educational leadership studies. This book offers a systematic account of educational leadership from the perspective that context matters. It argues that studies of leadership in education can only progress if the importance of context is understood and presents context as a set of constraints under which leadership is exercised. A theoretical book that offers at last three major challenges to dominant positions in the field in a systematic way, it provides a new, coherent, and more realistic way to think about leadership in context.The chapters offer concrete steps for complex problem-solving in schools and will help schools tailor solutions to local constraints and circumstances. Written by leading scholars Colin W. Evers and Gabriele Lakomski, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers working in the fields of education, educational administration and leadership.

A wide-ranging argument by a renowned anthropologist that the capacity to believe is what makes us human Why are so many humans religious? Why do we daydream, imagine, and hope? Philosophers, theologians, social scientists, and historians have offered explanations for centuries, but their accounts often ignore or even avoid human evolution. Evolutionary scientists answer with proposals for why ritual, religion, and faith make sense as adaptations to past challenges or as by-products of our hyper-complex cognitive capacities. But what if the focus on religion is too narrow? Renowned anthropologist Agustín Fuentes argues that the capacity to be religious is actually a small part of a larger and deeper human capacity to believe. Why believe in religion, economies, love? A fascinating intervention into some of the most common misconceptions about human nature, this book employs evolutionary, neurobiological, and anthropological evidence to argue that belief--the ability to commit passionately and wholeheartedly to an idea--is central to the human way of being in the world.

Deficits in social cognition and metacognition in schizophrenics makes it difficult for them to understand the speech, facial expressions and hence emotion and intention of others, as well as allowing little insight into their own mental state. These deficits are associated with poor social skills, fewer social relationships, and are predictive of poorer performance in a work setting. Social Cognition and Metacognition in Schizophrenia reviews recent research advances focusing on the precise nature of these deficits, when and how they manifest themselves, what their effect is on the course of schizophrenia, and how each can be treated. These deficits may themselves be why schizophrenia is so difficult to resolve; by focusing on the deficits, recovery may be quicker and long lasting. This book discusses such deficits in early onset, first episode, and prolonged schizophrenia; how the deficits relate to each other and to other forms of psychopathology; how the deficits affect social, psychological, and vocational functioning; and how best to treat the deficits in either individual or group settings. - Summarizes the types of social cognitive and metacognitive deficits present in schizophrenia - Discusses how deficits are related to each other and to other forms of psychopathology - Describes how deficits impact function and affect the recovery process - Provides treatment approaches for these deficits