Cultural Perspectives Influence Brain

In that one’s cultural upbringing influence how we process thoughts and recall memories, Denise C. Park from the University of Texas (Texas, USA), and colleagues explored how cultural perspectives may impact the brain’s structure and function.  Reporting in Perspectives on Psychological Science, the researchers explain that East Asians tend to process information in a global manner whereas Westerners tend to focus on individual objects, and as a result there are differences between East Asians and Westerners with respect to attention, categorization, and reasoning.   The team proposes that by examining changes in cognitive processes over time, we gain insight into the aging process as well as any culture-related changes that may occur. Noting that with regard to free recall, working memory, and processing speed, aging has a greater impact than does culture, the researchers submit that age promotes both Eastern and Western cultures to progress towards a more balanced representation of self and others.