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

This book focuses on the developmental analysis of the brain-culture-environment dynamic.

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

9780521844949, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 June 2006

444 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.735 kg

'The book provides excellent summaries of specific areas of research contributing to the overall thesis of lifespan biocultural co-constructivism. Lifespan Development and the Brain should be required reading …' PsycCritiques

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.

Preface Paul B. Baltes, Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz and Frank Rösler
Part I. Setting the Stage across the Ages of the Lifespan: 1. Prologue: biocultural co-constructivism as a theoretical metascript Paul B. Baltes, Frank Rösler and Patricia A. 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 Sébastien Desgent
6. Blindness: a source and case of neuronal plasticity Brigitte Röder
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 Rüschemeyer
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 Bäckman
12. The aging mind and brain: implications of enduring plasticity for behavioral and cultural change Patricia A. Reuter-Lorenz and Joseph A. 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-Tatjana 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 Lövdén
Part VII. Epilogue: 17. Letters on nature and nurture Onur Güntürkün.

Subject Areas: Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR], Physiological & neuro-psychology, biopsychology [JMM], Child & developmental psychology [JMC]