Attending the World Economic Forum this past week, I was struck by two trends. The first was that brain research has emerged as a hot topic. Not only was brain science or brain health a new theme at the meeting, research on the brain emerged in discussions about next generation computing, global cooperation, and even models of economic development as well as being linked to mental health or min…
Debates about the etiology of addiction among researchers and policymakers have a long history and continue to the present day. In contemporary societies within a range of nations, the brain disease model of addiction (BDMA) has received strong support. This has come, in particular, from US agencies such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and American Society of Addiction Medi…
Knowledge about the brain is argued by many to have the potential to yield powerful insights for ourselves and societies. This chapter will examine how neuroscience is framed by, and can be impactful within, a range of social domains. Central to this is the construction of neuroscientific knowledge as novel and of quintessential import. Through the analysis, I will demonstrate how the brain is …