Through the study of reproductive health, child survival, adolescent psychology, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and drug abuse, anthropology connects closely to the health sciences. Many anthropologists are researching the cross-cultural impact of the AIDS epidemic. Others are documenting the medical knowledge of traditional healers, some of which may be of considerable value. Anatomy and Neuroscience. Biological anthropologists use their training in anatomy and neurology to investigate how human beings developed erect posture, tool use, and language and symbolic thought.
Anthropological geneticists study how and why genetic traits vary with populations.
The expressive arts, including graphic art, music, dance, and literature, have long had a major place in anthropology. Archaeologists and cultural anthropologists study art for clues about the culture and social organization of a given people, as well as for psychological analyses of what art reveals about human thought. Archaeologists also seek the origins of humans' capacity for creativity and symbolic expression. Linguistic anthropologists look at artistic forms of speech, including ritual, to study how thought and feeling vary by culture and time.