"How do you know unless you look?": brain imaging, biopower and practical neuroscience

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Sociology of Science
• Cultural Studies

Background:

• Brain imaging is increasingly used in popular media.
• Neuroscientific concepts are disseminated to the public through various channels.
• Self-help literature often incorporates scientific findings to gain authority.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze how brain imaging is used in "brain-based self-help" literature.
• To understand the dissemination of neuroscientific vocabularies to public audiences.
• To explore the implications of this trend for self-constitution and political order.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of "brain-based self-help" literature.
• Application of Michel Foucault's theories on biopower.
• Examination of the rhetorical use of brain images as authoritative resources.

Main Results:

• Brain images serve as persuasive visual rhetoric, making neuroscience accessible and relevant.
• "Brain-based self-help" literature translates complex neuroscience into practical life advice.
• This genre facilitates self-constitution within a biosocial framework where health signifies personal and social value.

Conclusions:

• The popularization of neuroscience through brain imaging in self-help has significant implications for individual identity formation.
• This self-fashioning process, driven by health as a marker of worth, extends into political and social spheres.
• The continuous self-improvement narrative reinforced by neuroscientific claims has wider societal and political consequences.