Abstract
Here we analyze public communication of neuroscience, in general, and social neuroscience, in particular, as well as the circulation of its particular discourse in mass media. We discuss particular issues of neuroscience communications in the context of science popularization. As an example, we offer an analysis of neuroscience coverage in a national newspaper of widespread distribution and conclude that even though news articles on social neuroscience do not represent a significant proportion of scientific reports in the press, they are important platforms to disseminate neuroscientific accounts of social processes. This is especially so as regards the topics of interpersonal ties and emotional mechanisms, two concepts traditionally dominated by the social sciences. Finally, we offer some recommendations for bridging the gap between academic research in the field and its popularization.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Falk EB. Communication neuroscience as a tool for health psychologists. Health Psychol. 2010;29(4):355–7.
Roussos A, et al. Psychotherapy and social neuroscience: forging links together. In: Ibáñez A, Sedeño L, García AM, editors. Neuroscience and social science. New York: Springer; 2017.
Cacioppo JT, Berntson GG. Social psychological contributions to the decade of the brain. Doctrine of multilevel analysis. Am Psychol. 1992;47(8):1019–28.
Dingel MJ, Ostergren J, McCormick JB, Hammer R, Koenig BA. The media and behavioral genetics: alternatives coexisting with addiction genetics. Sci Technol Hum Values. 2015;40(4):459–86.
Zimmerman E, Racine E. Ethical issues in the translation of social neuroscience: a policy analysis of current guidelines for public dialogue in human research. Account Res. 2012;19(1):27–46.
de Jong IM, Kupper F, Arentshorst M, Broerse J. Responsible reporting: neuroimaging news in the age of responsible research and innovation. Sci Eng Ethics. 2016;22(4):1107–30.
Racine E, Illes J. Emerging ethical challenges in advanced neuroimaging research: review, recommendations and research agenda. J Empir Res Hum Res Ethics. 2007;2(2):1–10.
Zigmond MJ. Implementing ethics in the professions: preparing guidelines on scientific communication for the society for neuroscience. Commentary on ‘implementing ethics in the professions: examples from environmental epidemiology’ (Soskolne and Sieswerda). Sci Eng Ethics. 2003;9(2):191–200.
Weisberg DS, Keil FC, Goodstein J, Rawson E, Gray JR. The seductive allure of neuroscience explanations. J Cogn Neurosci. 2008;20(3):470–7.
Luz M, Sabino C, Mattos R, Ferla AA, Andres B, Alba RD. Contribution towards studying the contemporary social imaginary: rhetoric and images of biosciences in popular scientific periodicals. Interface. 2013;10(1):84–106.
Schäfer M. The media in the labs, and the labs in the media. What we know about the mediatization of science. In: Lundby K, editor. Mediatization of communication. Berlin: De Gruyter; 2014. p. 571–93.
Christidou V, Dimopoulos K, Kouladis V. Constructing social representations of science and technology: the role of metaphors in the press and the popular scientific magazines. J Sci Commun. 2004;13:347–62.
Brossard D. New media landscapes and the science information consumer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013;110(Suppl 3):14096–101.
Hilgartner S. The dominant view of popularization: conceptual problems, political uses. Public Underst Sci. 1990;20:519–39.
Allgaier J, Dunwoody S, Brossard D, Lo YY, Peters HP. Journalism and social media as means of observing the contexts of science. Bioscience. 2013;63(4):284–7.
van Atteveldt NM, van Aalderen-Smeets SI, Jacobi C, Ruigrok N. Media reporting of neuroscience depends on timing, topic and newspaper type. PLoS One. 2014;9(8):e104780.
Popescu M, Thompson RB, Gayton WF, Markowski V. A reexamination of the neurorealism effect: the role of context. J Sci Commun. 2016;15(6):A01.
Beck DM. The appeal of the brain in the popular press. Perspect Psychol Sci. 2010;5(6):762–6.
O’Connor C, Rees G, Joffe H. Neuroscience in the public sphere. Neuron. 2012;74(2):220–6.
Racine E, Bar-Ilan O, Illes J. fMRI in the public eye. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2005;6(2):159–64.
Racine E, Bar-Ilan O, Illes J. Brain imaging: a decade of coverage in the print media. Sci Commun. 2006;28(1):122–42.
Racine E, Waldman S, Rosenberg J, Illes J. Contemporary neuroscience in the media. Soc Sci Med. 2010;71(4):725–33.
Gonon F, Bezard E, Boraud T. Misrepresentation of neuroscience data might give rise to misleading conclusions in the media: the case of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. PLoS One. 2011;6(1):e14618.
Racine E. Identifying challenges and conditions for the use of neuroscience in bioethics. Am J Bioeth. 2007;7(1):74–6. discussion W1–4
Jonhson MJ, Littlefield M. Lost and found in translation: popular neuroscience in the emerging neurodisciplines. In: Pickersgill M, Van Keulen I, editors. Solciological reflections on the neurosciences. Bingley: Emerald; 2011. p. 279–99.
Illes J, Moser MA, McCormick JB, Racine E, Blakeslee S, Caplan A, et al. Neurotalk: improving the communication of neuroscience research. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2010;11(1):61–9.
Broer T, Pickersgill M, Deary IJ. The movement of research from the laboratory to the living room: a case study of public engagement with cognitive science. Neuroethics. 2016;9:159–71.
Palma H. Infidelidad genética y hormigas corruptas. Una crítica al periodismo científico. Buenos Aires: Teseo; 2012. p. 245.
Mantilla MJ, Di Marco MH. La emergencia del cerebro en el espacio público: las noticias periodísticas sobre las neurociencias y el cerebro en la prensa gráfica en Argentina (2000–2012). Phys Rev Saúde Coletiva. 2016;26(1):177–200.
Ortega F, Vidal F. Neurocultures: glimpses into an expanding universe. Frankfurt am Main. New York: Peter Lang; 2011. p. 359.
Pitts-Taylor V. The plastic brain: neoliberalism and the neuronal self. Health. 2010;14(6):635–52.
Mantilla MJ. Educating ‘cerebral subjects’: the emergence of brain talk in the Argentinean society. BioSocieties. 2014;10(1):84–106.
Blakemore C. Neuroscience and the media: the need for communication. Neuroscience. 1993;57(1):217–26.
Miller G. Neuroscience. Neural communication breaks down as consciousness fades and sleep sets in. Science. 2005;309(5744):2148–9.
Callard F, Fitzgerald D. Rethinking interdisciplinarity across the social sciences and neurosciences. Basingstoke: Palgrave; 2015.
Meloni M, Williams S, Martin P. The biosocial: sociological themes and issues. Sociol Rev Monogr. 2016;64:7–25.
Goldstein AA. Qué afinidades políticas hay entre los principales diarios y partidos de “derecha” en Brasil, Chile y Argentina a inicios del siglo XXI? In: Bohoslavsky E, Echeverría O, editors. Las derechas en el Cono Sur, Siglo XX. Los Polvorines: Unive. Nac. de Gral. Sarmiento; 2013.
Federico L. Homicidios diarios. Análisis del discuros periodístico sibre homicidios por armas de fuego. Buenos Aires (Argentina) 2001–2002. Salud Colectiva. 2010;6(3):295–312.
Njaine K, De Souza Minayo MC. Análise do discurso da imprensa sobre rebelioes de jovens infratores em regime de privacao de liberdade. Ciencia Saude Coetiva. 2002;7(2):285–97.
Klein D, Rotarska-Jagiela A, Genc E, Sritharan S, Mohr H, Roux F, et al. Adolescent brain maturation and cortical folding: evidence for reductions in gyrification. PLoS One. 2014;9(1):e84914.
Uhlhaas PJ, Roux F, Singer W, Haenschel C, Sireteanu R, Rodriguez E. The development of neural synchrony reflects late maturation and restructuring of functional networks in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009;106(24):9866–71.
Evers K. Can we be epigenetically proactive. In: Metzinger T, Windt JM, editors. Open mind: philosophy and the mind sciences in the 21st century. Cambridge: MIT Press; 2016. p. 497–518.
Lipina SJ, Posner MI. The impact of poverty on the development of brain networks. Front Hum Neurosci. 2012;6:238.
Lipina SJ, Segretin MS. Strengths and weakness of neuroscientific investigations of childhood poverty: future directions. Front Hum Neurosci. 2015;9:53.
Segretin MS, Hermida MJ, Prats LM, Fracchia CS, Ruetti E, Lipina SJ. Childhood poverty and cognitive development in latin America in the 21st century. New Dir Child Adolesc Dev. 2016;2016(152):9–29.
Rose N, Abi-Rached J. Neuro: the new brain sciences and the management of the mind. Princeton: Princeton University Press; 2013. p. 352.
Clarke A, Shim J, Mamo L, Fosket R, Fishman J. Biomedicalization: technoscientific transformations of health, illness and US biomedicine. Am Sociol Rev. 2003;68(2):161–94.
Valentine A, Kurczek J. “Social” neuroscience: leveraging social media to increase student engagement and public understanding of neuroscience. J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2016;15(1):A94–A103.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mantilla, M.J., Di Marco, M.H., Golombek, D.A. (2017). The Brain in the Public Space: Social Neuroscience and the Media. In: Ibáñez, A., Sedeño, L., García, A. (eds) Neuroscience and Social Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68421-5_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68421-5_14
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68420-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68421-5
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)