Neuroplasticity in the adult brain following changes in cognitive processing

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，但在啮齿动物和灵长类动物（包括人类）中的证据引起了一些学者的怀疑。面对这一点，其他研究人员提供了令人印象深刻的证据，证明成年人海马体具有神经可塑性。因此，对神经可塑性持怀疑态度的人认为海马体是人脑中的一个例外。然而，成年人是否在其他大脑区域（如皮层）表现出神经可塑性变化还没有得到解决，并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，拟议的工作提出了三套研究，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的背景下。大脑皮层下和皮层结构的反应，以前牵连在跨文化的神经影像学研究的奖励评价，自我的代表，和心理理论，因此将评估参与者的适应从东亚到西方的价值观。为了补充功能磁共振成像的结果，东亚移民到加拿大将完成他们的文化适应加拿大和西方价值观的认可的个体差异措施。作为一名具有文化心理学背景的认知神经科学家，我非常适合在多伦多这个世界上最具多元文化的城市之一开展这项工作。因此，这项研究的目的是阐明神经可塑性在成人大脑中的潜在作用，通过测量神经变化来响应认知过程变化的强大和自然发生的预测。

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.