Neurological Identities: Challenging the Brain as the Locus of Difference

As cognitive neuroscience steps up its focus on neurological distinctions between different ‘kinds of people,’ patient populations, cultural groups and social categories have begun to be understood in terms of brain-based differences. These differences are often articulated in terms of structural or functional differences, as visualized through neuroimaging techniques. In this talk, Suparna Choudhury will introduce the framework of critical neuroscience to demonstrate the appeal of the use of neurobiological vocabulary in describing diversity, and in the constitution of identities.
She will explore the terrain of ‘neurological identities’ through a comparative analysis of identity issues among groups described by cultural neuroscience, individuals with clinical diagnoses and among typically developing adolescents, who represent categories of people that constitute important objects of study in current work in cognitive neuroscience and psychiatry. Through these case studies, Suparna will discuss the heterogeneity of the role of the brain in projects of identity formation, the dilemmas about studying ‘context’ in the lab, and the many possible meanings conferred by the notion of ‘being wired up differently.’