Neuroplasticity in the adult brain following changes in cognitive processing

认知处理变化后成人大脑的神经可塑性

• 批准号: 419593-2012
• 负责人: Rule, Nicholas
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2012-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=506565
• 关键词: Neuroplasticity; adult; brain; following; changes

Neuroplasticity in human adults is a topic of much controversy. Despite demonstrations of neuroplasticity in non-mammals, claims of evidence in rodents and primates (including humans) have engendered skepticism from some scholars. In the face of this, other researchers have provided impressive evidence of neuroplasticity in the adult human hippocampus. Skeptics of neuroplasticity have therefore regarded the hippocampus to be an exception within the human brain. However, it is unresolved whether adults do show neuroplastic changes in other brain areas, such as the cortex, and direct tests of this possibility are lacking. One candidate variable that might instigate neuroplastic changes concerns the dramatic shifts in perceptual and cognitive processes that occur among individuals who migrate between two distinct cultures. The proposed work therefore presents three sets of studies aimed at elucidating whether human neuroplasticity may occur within the context of acculturation from East Asia to Canada. Brain responses in both subcortical and cortical structures previously implicated in cross-cultural neuroimaging studies of reward evaluation, representation of the self, and theory of mind will therefore be assessed with regard to the participants' adaptation from East Asian to Western values. To complement the fMRI findings, East Asian immigrants to Canada will complete individual differences measures of their acculturation to Canada and endorsement of Western values. As a cognitive neuroscientist with a background in cultural psychology, I am well-positioned to perform this work in Toronto, one of the most multi-cultural cities in the world. This research therefore aims to elucidate the potential role of neuroplasticity in the adult human brain by measuring neural changes in response to a powerful and naturally-occurring predictor of changes in cognitive processes.

成年人的神经可塑性是一个备受争议的话题。尽管在非哺乳动物中证明了神经可塑性，但在啮齿类动物和灵长类动物（包括人类）中的证据主张却引起了一些学者的怀疑。面对这种情况，其他研究人员提供了成年人海马体神经可塑性的令人印象深刻的证据。因此，神经可塑性怀疑论者认为海马体是人脑中的一个例外。然而，成年人是否确实在其他大脑区域（例如皮层）表现出神经塑性变化尚未解决，并且缺乏对这种可能性的直接测试。可能引发神经塑性变化的一个候选变量涉及在两种不同文化之间迁移的个体中发生的知觉和认知过程的巨大变化。因此，拟议的工作提出了三组研究，旨在阐明人类神经可塑性是否可能在从东亚到加拿大的文化适应背景下发生。因此，先前涉及奖励评估、自我表征和心理理论的跨文化神经影像学研究中皮层下和皮层结构的大脑反应将根据参与者从东亚价值观到西方价值观的适应情况进行评估。为了补充功能磁共振成像的研究结果，加拿大的东亚移民将完成个人差异测量，以衡量他们对加拿大的文化适应和对西方价值观的认可。作为一名具有文化心理学背景的认知神经科学家，我完全有能力在世界上最具多元文化的城市之一的多伦多开展这项工作。因此，这项研究旨在通过测量对认知过程变化的强大且自然发生的预测因素的神经变化来阐明神经可塑性在成人大脑中的潜在作用。