Neuroplasticity in the adult brain following changes in cognitive processing

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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.