Neurohistory is an

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

approach to

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

that leverages advances in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

to tell new kinds of stories about the past, but especially of deep history. This is achieved by incorporating the advances in neurosciences into historiographical theory and methodology in the attempt to reconstruct the past It was first proposed by Harvard professor

Daniel Lord Smail Daniel Lord Smail (born 5 October 1961) is Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of History at Harvard University, he teaches the history of Mediterranean societies between 1100 and 1600 and in special the French city of Marseille. He also studies dee ...

in his work and it offers historians a way to engage critically with the implicit folk psychologies in the interpretation of evidence.

Background

An account cited that neurohistory can be traced back to William Reddy's reception of experimental psychology and that this launched a neuroscientific wave in several fields of human sciences until it reached history. When Smail introduced neurohistory in his book ''On Deep History and the Brain,'' he proposed several ideas, particularly the implications of evolution – especially the evolution of human neuroplasticity – to history. Smail argued that the neurological complex lies at the heart of experience and is directly associated with social practices and institutions so that historians can no longer think in terms of nature and nurture. He also proposed other innovations such as the extension of the chronological bounds of what counts as history as well as the concept of sources. Aside from the written document he posited that history must also include stone fragments, fossils, and other historical traces. Other supporters of neurohistory include Lynn Hunt.Burman, J. T. (2012). History from within? Contextualizing the new neurohistory and seeking its methods. ''History of Psychology, 15''(1), 84-99

The methodological discussion and reflection on the co-operation between history and neuroscience are offered by Dieter Langewiesche/Niels Birbaumer. Subsequent commentaries have shown that the idea relies on evolutionary assumptions (notably a blend of

exaptation Exaptation and the related term co-option describe a shift in the function of a trait during evolution. For example, a trait can evolve because it served one particular function, but subsequently it may come to serve another. Exaptations are common ...

and the

Baldwin effect In evolutionary biology, the Baldwin effect, a phenotype-first theory of evolution, describes the effect of learned behaviour on evolution. James Mark Baldwin and others suggested during the eclipse of Darwinism in the late 19th century that an ...

) and can be extended by drawing on ideas from neurophilosophy. The result has been suggested as providing the means for a new kind of

historical method Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that historians use to research and write histories of the past. Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as that derived from archaeology may all be drawn o ...

: history from within, which is conceived as an augmentation of

history from below A people's history, or history from below, is a type of historical narrative which attempts to account for historical events from the perspective of common people rather than leaders. There is an emphasis on disenfranchised, the oppressed, the p ...

Concept

As a historical approach, neurohistory allows the idea that the brain can be a narrative focus of history, one that is not anchored on the framework of political organization. An interpretation also describes it as an approach to the past that recognizes the evidence for brain plasticity in human development, giving context importance, particularly when constructing human experience. Neurohistory is also linked with cultural history in the sense that it provides more insights, particularly with respect to early history, since it does not constrain historical imagination. It leads to the so-called implicit presentism drawn from historians' inferences projected from their folk-psychological notions through reconstructed context.

References

{{Neuroscience Cultural neuroscience