This chapter traces the steps taken by our hominin ancestors in developing our con- temporary brain. The story starts with Australopithecine between 3 million and 4 million years ago when Australopithecines left the tree tops and their arboreal niche;
but we found out later that arboreal life never left our brains and even paved the way for the abstractions needed for language. The term “niche” is important because it avoids seeing the environment as separate from the animal since animals – for instance, beavers very frequently change their environments as well as vice versa.
Brain size was traced from that of Australopithecines to Neanderthals and finally to Homo sapiens, but it was clear that given a certain size, brain structure was more important. Another important lesson was made about the nature of evolution. One species form does not always develop into the next form with all these species being pure in and of themselves. Different species commonly lived at the same time and place. Interbreeding occurred regularly.
We also found that intelligence is often reified into one summary number, namely IQ when the matter is broader than that and quite complex. People have different strengths and weaknesses. For example, some have more capacity for integrative approaches than others or some may be remarkably gifted in the arts or music but not other fields. Nevertheless the survival value of intelligence rendered as IQ com- monly goes unchallenged.
Turner, Maryanski, and Ramachandran take us back to our inheritance from ani- mals like Australopithecines who navigated the uppermost branches without falling to their deaths. They take us on what appears at first to be an improbable journey from the brain capacities used for arboreal life styles to the abstractions needed for language. Ramachandran uses the term exaptation for a brain structure that evolved for one purpose and later became the basis for something new. Like Turner and Maryanski, his narrative starts with something far, far removed from anything hav- ing to do with language, namely synesthesia, that is, seeing numbers and even days of the week in colors (Ramachandran 2011). He then takes us to the very heart of language.
A discussion of the brain circuits and bone structures leading to these abilities through millions of years follows. Language is then broken down to its characteris- tic parts – phonemes, morphemes, lexicons, syntax, symbolism, and recursion.
2 The Evolution of the Human Brain
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2019 D. D. Franks, Neurosociology: Fundamentals and Current Findings, SpringerBriefs in Sociology, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1600-8_3
Chapter 3
What Is Social About the Human Brain
Abstract What brains allow us to do socially is discussed. Early studies by Rene Spitz are described. These studies demonstrate what happens to infants who lack a working social environment. The psychological costs of such an environment to the infants (fear, depression, and lack of physical heath) are detailed. Other examples of maladies due to lack of human caring and attention are described in chemical terms are by Tredway et al. Work on the same subject by Damasio and LeDoux are described as well as Harlow’s monkeys that showed similar responses compared to the infants in the Spitz studies. The work of Mathew Lieberman in his book Social is presented and examples of the degree to which the brain is social are presented as well as the supporting brain parts that are involved in this sociability. The “Default Mode Network” is described as an automatic and causative mechanism that assures our sociality. Social and physical pain are addressed and examples are given as well as their supporting brain parts. The degree to which we are sensitive to rejection is exemplified by rejection caused merely by computer games. Replications of Lieberman’s work are described. Next, the concept of intersubjectivity is presented as well as why it is needed. Different epistemologies implied by intersubjectivity are considered. Next, why the assumption that we live in a common world is prob- lematic is explained. The person as a “primitive concept” is addressed using past work by Leslie Brothers. The social implications of this are noted as well as the importance of noticing other’s eyes as in autistic syndromes.
Keywords Intersubjectivity · Social pain · Lieberman · Infant isolation ·
Depression · Kangaroo care · Opioids · Default mode network · Harlow’s monkeys
· Cingulate cortex
Our brains are organized to assure among other things that we will be able to coop- erate with each other, to anticipate how others will respond to us, and importantly to be self-conscious so we can control our actions and conform – at least to important cultural dictates. This is facilitated by emotions generated deep in our brains such as embarrassment, shame, and pride that are unpleasant to us and that we thereby want to avoid. Note that these have to do with our self-image in the eyes of others. Without others to view our actions there could not be any of these emotions. They make
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conforming to certain social behaviors possible because shame and the other emo- tions mentioned simply hurt. As we shall soon see, our brains are so social in this sense that we have two kinds of pain – physical and social. In evolutionary terms, this ability to cooperate gave our ancestors a great advantage of surviving compared to other animal forms of their time.