Lifespan Development and the Brain: The Perspective of Biocultural Co-Constructivism

by Edited by Paul B. Baltes , Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz , Frank Rösler

• ISBN13: 9780521844949
• ISBN10: 0521844940
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-19
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The book focuses on the developmental analysis of the brain-culture-environment dynamic and argues that this dynamic is interactive and reciprocal. Brain and culture co-determine each other. As a whole, this book refutes any unidirectional conception of the brain-culture dynamic. Each is influenced by and modifies the other. To capture the ubiquitous reach and significance of the mutually dependent brain-culture system, the metaphor of biocultural co-constructivism is invoked. Distinguished researchers from cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology and developmental psychology review the evidence in their respective fields. A special focus of the book is its coverage of the entire human lifespan from infancy to old age.

Table of Contents

Preface Paul B. Baltes, Patricia Reuter-Lorenz and Frank Rö

sler

Part I. Setting the Stage Across the Ages of the Lifespan: 1. Prologue: biocultural co-constructivism as a theoretical metascript Paul B. Baltes, Frank Rö

sler and Patricia Reuter-Lorenz

2. Biocultural co-construction of lifespan development Shu-Chen Li

Part II. Neuronal Plasticity and Biocultural Co-Construction: Microstructure Meets the Experiential Environment: 3. Neurobehavioral development in the context of biocultural co-constructivism Charles A. Nelson

4. Adult neurogenesis Gerd Kempermann

Part III. Neuronal Plasticity and Biocultural Co-Construction: Atypical Brain Architectures: 5. Sensory input-based adaptation and brain architecture Maurice Ptito and Sé

bastien Desgent

6. Blindness: a source and case of neuronal plasticity Brigitte Rö

der

Part IV. Biocultural Co-Construction: Specific Functions and Domains: 7. Language acquisition: biological versus cultural implications for brain structure Angela D. Friederici and Shirley-Ann Rü

schemeyer

8. Reading, writing, and arithmetic in the brain: neural specialization for acquired functions Thad A. Polk and J. Paul Hamilton

9. Emotion, learning, and the brain: from classical conditioning to cultural bias Elizabeth A. Phelps

10. The musical mind: neural tuning and the aesthetic experience Oliver Vitouch

Part V. Plasticity and Biocultural Co-Construction in Later Life: 11. Influences of biological and self-initiated factors on brain and cognition in adulthood and aging Lars Nyberg and Lars Bä

ckman

12. The aging mind and brain: implications of enduring plasticity for behavioral and cultural change Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz and Joseph Mikels

Part VI. Biocultural Co-Construction: From Micro- to Macroenvironments in Larger Cultural Contexts: 13. Characteristics of illiterate and literate cognitive processing: implications of brain-behavior co-constructivism Karl Magnus Petersson and Alexandra Reis

14. The influence of work and occupation on brain development Neil Charness

15. The influence of organized violence and terror on brain and mind: a co-constructive perspective Thomas Elbert, Brigitte Rockstroh, Iris Kolassa, Maggie Schauer and Frank Neuner

16. Co-constructing human engineering technologies in old age: lifespan psychology as a conceptual foundation Ulman Lindenberger and Martin Lö

vdé

n

Part VI. Epilogue

17. Letters on nature and nurture Onur Gü

ntü

rkü

n

Part VIII. Appendix

Author index

Subject index.