Latimer, Joanna Elizabeth orcid.org/0000-0001-7418-7515 and Hillman, Alexandra (2019) Somaticization, the making and unmaking of minded persons and the fabrication of dementia. Social Studies of Science. pp. 208-226. ISSN 0306-3127
Abstract
This article examines the strategies by which the different and variable signs of failing mental powers become known sufficiently for ‘dementia’ to be made into a stable bio-clinical entity, that can be tested, diagnosed and perhaps one day even treated. Drawing on data from ethnographic observations in memory clinics, together with interviews with associated scientists and clinicians, we document the challenges that clinicians face across the clinical and research domain in making dementia a stable object of their investigation. We illustrate how the pressure for early diagnoses of dementia creates tensions between the scientific representations of early dementia and its diagnosis in the clinic. Our aim is to highlight the extent to which the work of diagnosing dementia involves an intricate process of smoothing out seemingly insurmountable problems, such as the notoriously elusive connections between brain/mind and body/person. Furthermore, we show that a part of this process involves enrolling patients as minded, agentic subjects, the very subjects who are excluded from dementia science research in pursuit of biomarkers for the pre-clinical detection of dementia.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2019. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Keywords: | dementia,diagnosis,somaticization |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Sociology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 17 Jan 2019 14:20 |
Last Modified: | 12 Dec 2024 00:13 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312719834069 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0306312719834069 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:141218 |
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Description: Hillman and Latimer Somaticization and the Fabrication of Dementia