Engram Studies: A Call for Historical, Philosophical, and Sociological Approaches

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Version: Final published version
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Serval ID
serval:BIB_A12D68658AB1
Type
A part of a book
Publication sub-type
Chapter: chapter ou part
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Engram Studies: A Call for Historical, Philosophical, and Sociological Approaches
Title of the book
Engrams: A Window into the Memory Trace
Author(s)
Chiapperino Luca, Panese Francesco
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
ISBN
9783031629822
9783031629839
ISSN
2190-5215
2190-5223
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2024
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Pages
259-272
Language
english
Abstract
In this chapter, we identify three distinct avenues of research on the philosophical, historical, and sociopolitical dimensions of engram research. First, we single out the need to refine philosophical understandings of memory within neuroscientific research on the engram. Specifically, we question the place of constructivist and preservationist philosophical claims on memory in the formulation of the engram concept and its operationalization in contemporary neuroscience research. Second, we delve into the received historiography of the engram claiming its disappearance after Richard Semon’s (1859–1918) coinage of the concept. Differently from this view, we underline that Semon’s legacy is still largely undocumented: Unknown are the ways the engram circulated within studies of organic memory as well as the role Semon’s ideas had in specific national contexts of research in neurosciences. Finally, another research gap on the engram concerns a socio-anthropological documentation of the factual and normative resources this research offers to think about memory in healthcare and society. Representations of memory in this research, experimental strategies of intervention into the engram, as well as their translational potential for neurodegenerative (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease) and psychiatric (e.g., post-traumatic stress disorder) conditions have not yet received scrutiny notwithstanding their obvious social and political relevance.
Pubmed
Funding(s)
Swiss National Science Foundation / Careers / 185822
Create date
16/07/2024 18:33
Last modification date
17/07/2024 7:10
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