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    Social Representations of Brain Research: Exploring Public (Dis)engagement With Contemporary Neuroscience


    O'Connor, Cliodhna and Joffe, Helene (2014) Social Representations of Brain Research: Exploring Public (Dis)engagement With Contemporary Neuroscience. Science Communication, 36 (5). pp. 617-645. ISSN 1552-8545

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    Abstract

    Recent years have seen a major expansion of the position of neuroscience in the mass media, public policy, and legal dialogue. Drawing on interviews with 48 London residents, this article examines how people with no prior involvement with neuroscience make sense of the concept of “brain research.” Thematic analysis of the data furnished little evidence that neuroscience has meaningfully infiltrated lay thinking. Respondents consigned brain knowledge to the “other world” of science, which was seen as a decidedly separate social milieu. They envisioned that the only route by which they might become alert to brain information would be if they developed a neurological illness. This article considers the social and psychological dynamics that shape neuroscience’s dissipation into public consciousness.

    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: neuroscience; brain; social representations; dys-appearance; interviews; thematic analysis;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
    Item ID: 6616
    Identification Number: https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547014549481
    Depositing User: Cliodhna O'Connor
    Date Deposited: 24 Nov 2015 15:35
    Journal or Publication Title: Science Communication
    Publisher: SAGE Publications
    Refereed: Yes
    URI:
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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