Neuroplasticity in the adult brain following changes in cognitive processing

成人的神经可塑性是一个颇有争议的话题。尽管在非哺乳动物中也有神经可塑性的证明，但在啮齿动物和灵长类动物（包括人类）中也有证据，这引起了一些学者的怀疑。面对这种情况，其他研究人员已经提供了令人印象深刻的证据，证明成人海马体中存在神经可塑性。因此，对神经可塑性持怀疑态度的人认为海马体是人类大脑中的一个例外。然而，成年人是否在大脑的其他区域（如皮层）表现出神经可塑性的变化，目前还没有定论，而且缺乏对这种可能性的直接测试。一个可能引发神经可塑性变化的候选变量涉及在两种不同文化之间迁移的个体在感知和认知过程中发生的巨大变化。因此，提出的工作提出了三组旨在阐明人类神经可塑性是否可能发生在从东亚到加拿大的文化适应背景下的研究。皮层下和皮层结构的大脑反应先前涉及奖励评价、自我表征和心理理论的跨文化神经影像学研究，因此将根据参与者从东亚到西方价值观的适应来评估。为了补充功能磁共振成像的发现，东亚移民将完成他们对加拿大文化适应和对西方价值观认可的个体差异测量。作为一名具有文化心理学背景的认知神经科学家，我很适合在多伦多这个世界上最多元文化的城市之一开展这项工作。因此，本研究旨在通过测量神经变化对认知过程变化的反应来阐明神经可塑性在成人大脑中的潜在作用。

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.