Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Perspectives on Neuroscience
Published on: July 31, 2007
Culture, mind, and the brain: current evidence and future directions
Shinobu Kitayama1, Ayse K Uskul
1Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA. kitayama@umich.edu
Abstract:
Current research on culture focuses on independence and interdependence and documents numerous East-West psychological differences, with an increasing emphasis placed on cognitive mediating mechanisms. Lost in this literature is a time-honored idea of culture as a collective process composed of cross-generationally transmitted values and associated behavioral patterns (i.e., practices). A new model of neuro-culture interaction proposed here addresses this conceptual gap by hypothesizing that the brain serves as a crucial site that accumulates effects of cultural experience, insofar as neural connectivity is likely modified through sustained engagement in cultural practices. Thus, culture is "embrained," and moreover, this process requires no cognitive mediation. The model is supported in a review of empirical evidence regarding (a) collective-level factors involved in both production and adoption of cultural values and practices and (b) neural changes that result from engagement in cultural practices. Future directions of research on culture, mind, and the brain are discussed.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Cognitivism
Previously dominated by behaviorism, which prioritized observable behaviors and largely ignored mental processes, psychology transformed in the 1950s. Cognitive psychologists argue that understanding how we think and process information is...
Contemporary Psychology
Biopsychology
Biopsychology, also known as biological psychology or behavioral neuroscience, focuses on the biological underpinnings of behavior and mental processes. It...
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
This field emerged in the mid-20th century, following a period dominated by behaviorism, which...
Introduction to Biological Bases of Psychology
The nervous system, the cornerstone of...
Revisionist Views of Adolescent and Adult Cognition
Psychology as a Science
The scientific method in psychology involves six critical steps: making observations, formulating hypotheses, conducting tests, analyzing...

