The Social Brain
Today I wish to write about something a little abstract, and a little (or perhaps greatly) complicated.
I wish to write about the brain. Specifically, I wish to write about how we think about the brain – what is it? How does it work? I am not a neurochemist. Nor am I a philosopher. Perhaps I can best be characterized as an informed outsider. I also recognize that the nature/nurture debate continues in forums far and wide, and impacts upon the argument I am about to make. But here we go.
There is a concept of what I would like to call the “individual brain”. This is the idea that the brain is a self-contained unit. What goes on inside the brain is determined by the brain’s chemistry rather than external factors. When we want to “fix” the brain – and I mean fix in the most serious sense of fixing pathology of mental illness – we interact with internal brain chemistry via medication. This individual brain forms a basis of psychiatry and psychopharmacology.
Obviously this concept is reductionist. No person could deny the fact that brains interact with the outer world or other brains. But I would hesitantly suggest that we think of brains as intrinsically social. They develop in a social context. They thrive in a social context. And when they become “sick”, it is usually the dearth of social interaction that serves to highlight to define the sickness.
In other words, I would like to suggest a “social brain”.
A brain spends most of its meaningful time interacting with other brains. The medium of this interaction is language. Language – spoken, written, or enacted in body language – is the way brains communicate. The way they function.
Indeed, I would suggest that we do not think of brains as isolated biochemical organs, but as nodes in a larger system made up of all the other brains that exist around the individual brain.
What are the implications of the social brain concept?
The first is to help understand the development of mind and self and personality in children. Children’s brains interact with other brains to become more sophisticated, more educated, more able. Communication is fundamental to these processes.
Second, the concept of the social brain creates a focus on the larger system of language-sharing brains. To be healthy, a brain must interact with this larger system. We may think of these systems as pools of thought interacting with each other; as a cultural resource; as the living, social expression of past mental achievements.
Third, this social brain concept can enrich our concept of mental pathology. Perhaps we can look more to the breakdown of the social brain as a source of “what’s wrong”. So, for example, the social brain concept helps us understand trauma as a breakdown between an individual brain and those that surround it; as a flaw in the in the larger system. Perhaps depression involves a difficulty in the individual brain to be motivated towards usual interactions. Schizophrenia, with breakdown in the means of communication and perception, also suggests a social factor in pathology.
Fourth, the social brain concept suggests certain directions for treating pathology. The concept suggests (or I think it suggests!) that certain mental pathologies could be treated, or treatment be supported, through healthy interactions with other well-functioning brains. We may find, for example, a GP making the social prescription for their patient to spend more time with family, or in church, or in a sporting team.
At this point, I would turn to my PhD thesis, whose direction in its final form pointed towards the importance of the social. In particular, it pointed to social factors in treating schizophrenia and in rebuilding and maintaining identity in the wake of experiencing psychosis.
For you, the reader, who may disagree with the direction of my thought, I would simply ask you this: what are you doing right now if not interacting with the product of my brain through the medium of language? A naturally social process in volving a social brain!
Dr. Richard Schweizer, Policy Officer at One Door Mental Health richard.schweizer@onedoor.org.au.
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Dr Richard Schweizer