Testing hypotheses about the harm that capitalism causes to the mind and brain: a theoretical framework for neuroscience research

Danae S Kokorikou; Ioannis Sarigiannidis; Vincenzo G Fiore; Beth Parkin; Alexandra Hopkins; Wael El-Deredy; Laura Dilley; Michael Moutoussis

doi:10.3389/fsoc.2023.1030115

Testing hypotheses about the harm that capitalism causes to the mind and brain: a theoretical framework for neuroscience research

Front Sociol. 2023 Jun 19:8:1030115. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.1030115. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Danae S Kokorikou¹, Ioannis Sarigiannidis², Vincenzo G Fiore³, Beth Parkin⁴, Alexandra Hopkins⁵, Wael El-Deredy⁶, Laura Dilley^#⁷, Michael Moutoussis^#^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Psychoanalysis Unit, Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
² Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
⁶ Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo en Ingeniería en Salud, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.
⁷ Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States.
⁸ Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁹ Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, London, United Kingdom.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

In this paper, we will attempt to outline the key ideas of a theoretical framework for neuroscience research that reflects critically on the neoliberal capitalist context. We argue that neuroscience can and should illuminate the effects of neoliberal capitalism on the brains and minds of the population living under such socioeconomic systems. Firstly, we review the available empirical research indicating that the socio-economic environment is harmful to minds and brains. We, then, describe the effects of the capitalist context on neuroscience itself by presenting how it has been influenced historically. In order to set out a theoretical framework that can generate neuroscientific hypotheses with regards to the effects of the capitalist context on brains and minds, we suggest a categorization of the effects, namely deprivation, isolation and intersectional effects. We also argue in favor of a neurodiversity perspective [as opposed to the dominant model of conceptualizing neural (mal-)functioning] and for a perspective that takes into account brain plasticity and potential for change and adaptation. Lastly, we discuss the specific needs for future research as well as a frame for post-capitalist research.

Keywords: capitalism; deprivation; inequality; isolation; neurodiversity.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

MM was employed by University College London, and the Wellcome Center for Human Neuroimaging was supported by core funding by the Wellcome Trust. The Max Planck-UCL Center for Computational Psychiatry and Aging is a joint initiative of the Max Planck Society and UCL. MM was also supported by the UCLH Biomedical Research Center. VGF was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (R21MH129898). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.