The figure of the brain has continued to rise in prominence for at least 30 years. This development continues to raise important questions: in particular, to what extent and in what ways does the brain supplant the person as the presumed origin of human behaviour? Whereas it has previously been discussed in general terms, here we address this question through an ethnographic study of the experimental articulation of the brain in neuromarketing research. Drawing on analytical themes from science and technology studies, we argue that it is crucial to investigate the enactment of the brain in situated practice and to understand the effects on prevailing accountability relations. We analyse the enactment of the ‘consuming’ brain in neuromarketing experiments and in experts’ communication of experimental results. We show how the consuming brain emerges from reconfigured sets of socio-material relations (between e.g. consumers, brains, brain scanning operators, consultants) and how this entails a redistribution of accountability relations. This results in an ontological respecification of the consumer, who is no longer deemed accountable for his/her actions. Instead spokespersons on behalf of the brain – neuromarketing technologies and experts – assume accountability for revealing why consumers buy what they buy. We conclude that the putative shift from person to brain is in fact characterised by a redistribution of accountability relations in neuromarketing practices. We call for further studies of accountability redistributions in practice, so as better to situate novel explanations of human behaviour.

中文翻译：

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制定“消费”大脑：神经营销实践中责任再分配的民族志研究

至少 30 年来，大脑的形象一直在显着上升。这一发展继续提出重要问题：特别是，大脑在多大程度上以及以何种方式取代人成为人类行为的假定起源？虽然之前已经笼统地讨论过这个问题，但在这里我们通过对神经营销研究中大脑实验性关节的民族志研究来解决这个问题。借鉴科学和技术研究的分析主题，我们认为调查大脑在情境实践中的作用并了解对现行问责关系的影响至关重要。我们分析了“消费”大脑在神经营销实验和专家交流实验结果中的作用。我们展示了消费大脑如何从重新配置的社会物质关系集（例如消费者、大脑、大脑扫描操作员、顾问之间）中出现，以及这如何导致责任关系的重新分配。这导致消费者的本体重新规范，不再被认为对他/她的行为负责。相反，代表大脑的发言人——神经营销技术和专家——承担了揭示消费者购买他们所购买商品的原因的责任。我们得出的结论是，假定的从人到大脑的转变实际上的特征是神经营销实践中责任关系的重新分配。我们呼吁在实践中进一步研究问责制再分配，以便更好地对人类行为进行新的解释。