Angela Gutchess

Objectives: Previous literature using the mini-ultimatum game (the mini-UG) suggests that older adults consider outcomes more than others’ intentions during fairness-related decision-making, whereas younger adults show the opposite pattern. Age-related declines in theory of mind (ToM) and executive functioning (EF) have been suggested as potential mechanisms underlying these age-related differences, but specific mechanisms remain unclear. The present work examines whether and how neural and behavioral factors known to be related to ToM and EF are associated with age-related differences in fairness processing. Methods: Thirty-six younger (Mage = 21.19, SDage = 3.14) and 36 older (Mage = 72.08, SDage = 5.87) participants completed both magnetic resonance imaging anatomical brain scans and the mini-UG alongside behavioral measures of ToM and EF outside of the scanner. Volumes and cortical thickness of ToM- and EF-related brain regions were extracted. Computational modeling of participant mini-UG decisions estimated individuals’ tendencies to consider intention vs. outcome information. Results: Older adults relied more on outcomes than intention information, whereas younger adults showed the opposite pattern. Structural brain indices and behavioral measures did not mediate age-related differences in decision-making. However, dmPFC volumes moderated the age differences in decision-making, and EF, but not ToM, was positively associated with intention-based (vs outcome-based) decisions across age groups. Discussion: These findings extend prior work on age differences in intention-based vs outcome-based fairness consideration by showing that dmPFC volume may be one factor contributing to age differences in related decisions.

It is now widely appreciated that culture can shape cognition and neural engagement. However, research investigating the effects of culture across the adult lifespan, with a focus on cognitive aging, is lacking. In this article, we consider why this integration of topics is useful and discuss the ways in which culture has been proposed to affect cognition and the cognitive neuroscience of aging. The literature thus far is reviewed from the perspectives of long‐term memory and decision‐making, which broadly encompass information processing in the brain and reflect a person's worldview and resulting actions. We argue for the importance of integrating aging into the study of cultural neuroscience, making the case from two different perspectives: the importance of studying cultural influences over the trajectory of the adult lifespan and the importance of understanding the cognitive neuroscience of aging across cultural groups. We discuss challenges and opportunities for future research, concluding that studying the cognitive neuroscience of aging across cultures has the potential to broaden understanding of the factors that contribute to successful cognitive aging as well as age‐related decline and pathology.

Acculturation, or cultural change in individuals through continuous contact between distinct cultural groups, is an important construct to study to understand the mechanisms behind effects of cultural background, values, and environment on thoughts and behaviors. This study examined the impact of acculturation on cognitive strategy usage, specifically investigating change in self- and other-referencing strategies in memory among Chinese international students as they acculturated to the US. The current study replicated in a new sample behavioral memory effects associated with acculturation. Importantly, it also extended research by examining the relationship between acculturation and ERP components (P300, late frontal positivity, late positive potential) that represent processes associated with memory strategies (self-/other-referencing) that differ across cultures. In a sample of 56 Chinese students studying in the US, we found that greater acculturation to the US was associated with a larger behavioral self-reference effect, contrasted by a smaller neural self-reference effect (late frontal positivity and late positive potential). However, results provide mixed support for cognitive differences with acculturation being due to one’s processing of the self and changes in one’s neural response to the degree of self-relatedness of information. Instead, we posit the potential for level of effortful processing, or the level of effort put forth to engage in a strategy, as a mechanism for culture's influence on memory strategy usage. Future research should explore these associations, including measuring change in EEG/ERP measures longitudinally over the course of the acculturation process.

Previous research has identified cultural differences in emotion-related self- and other-enhancement, which refers to a pattern in which individuals tend to view themselves or others in a positive light. However, little research has examined self- and other-enhancement in terms of memory. Additionally, research gaps exist on how acculturation (changes in the view of self and others resulting from cross-cultural interactions) impacts emotion-related and memory-related cognitive strategies. Using behavioral measures and ERP analyses (N400 and late positive potential), this study aimed to examine self- and other-enhancement among Chinese international students who have recently moved to the United States and enrolled at an American university. This current project built on prior research by examining the ways in which emotional self- and other-related information are differentially prioritized in memory across acculturation levels and how these two factors might interact in affecting neural patterns. Chinese international participants showed a significant other-enhancement effect in memory, contrasting prior findings of Western tendencies to self-enhance. Although there were no significant ERP effects, possibly due to lack of power, there were visual trends for self-enhancement effects as indicated by the LPP and other-enhancement effects as indicated by the N400. Results characterize unique cultural patterns in prioritizing emotional information related to the self versus close others. Future work could build on these initial findings to develop culturally sensitive interventions with the goal of mitigating the negative effects of acculturation-related stress and depressive symptoms and promoting positive well-being.

Cultural differences in cognition, including visual perception and long-term memory, may arise because typical visual environments differ across cultures, particularly in their spatial scale. Consequently, the influence of culture on cognitive processing depends on whether stimuli are presented at a large or small spatial scale. We tested North American and East Asian young adults to determine whether such cultural differences extend to short-term memory—testing, for the first time, whether spatial frequency information contributes to cross-cultural differences in memory. Test materials were images of natural and constructed scenes whose spatial structure was manipulated by low-pass filtering. Several seconds after briefly viewing a target scene, a subject saw three versions of that scene: the target itself and two variants whose low-pass filtering differed from the target. From these three, the subject selected the image identical to the target. The two groups did not differ in overall recognition accuracy but did in the way they mistook nonmatching images for certain targets. Specifically, North American subjects made reliably fewer errors in matching images whose high-frequency content was intact, providing evidence that cultural differences in prioritization of high spatial frequency information extend to short-term memory. Across both groups, subjects were highly accurate at recognizing images that retained all or most of their high-spatial frequency content and were highly sensitive to different levels of spatial filtering. These findings show that visual memory has sufficient fidelity to support fine discrimination of variation in spatial frequency.

Cultural differences in cognition, including visual perception and long-term memory, are influenced by the spatial scale of visual stimuli. The impact of culture varies depending on whether the stimuli are presented at large or small spatial scale. We tested North American and East Asian young adults to determine whether such cultural differences extend to short-term memory. Test materials were images of natural and constructed scenes whose spatial structure could be altered by low-pass filtering. Several seconds after briefly viewing a target scene, a subject saw three versions of that scene: the target itself and two variants whose low-pass filtering differed from the target. From these three, the subject selected the image identical to the target. The two groups did not differ in overall recognition accuracy but did in the way they mistook non-matching images for certain targets. Specifically, North American subjects made significantly fewer errors in matching images whose high-frequency content was intact, providing evidence that cultural differences in prioritization of high spatial frequency information extend to short-term memory. Across both groups, subjects were highly accurate at recognizing images that retained all or most of their high-spatial frequency content and were highly sensitive to different levels of spatial filtering. These findings show that visual memory has sufficient fidelity to support fine discrimination of variation in spatial frequency.

Adaptive behaviors require the ability to resolve conflicting information caused by the processing of incompatible sensory inputs. Prominent theories of attention have posited that early selective attention helps mitigate cognitive interference caused by conflicting sensory information by facilitating the processing of task-relevant sensory inputs and filtering out behaviorally irrelevant information. Surprisingly, many recent studies that investigated the role of early selective attention on conflict mitigation have failed to provide positive evidence. Here, we examined changes in the selectivity of early visuospatial attention in male and female human subjects performing an attention-cueing Eriksen flanker task, where they discriminated the shape of a visual target surrounded by congruent or incongruent distractors. We used the inverted encoding model to reconstruct spatial representations of visual selective attention from the topographical patterns of amplitude modulations in alpha band oscillations in scalp EEG (∼8–12 Hz). We found that the fidelity of the alpha-based spatial reconstruction was significantly higher in the incongruent compared with the congruent condition. Importantly, these conflict-related modulations in the reconstruction fidelity occurred at a much earlier time window than those of the lateralized posterior event-related potentials associated with target selection and distractor suppression processes, as well as conflict-related modulations in the frontocentral negative-going wave and midline-frontal theta oscillations (∼3–7 Hz), thought to track executive control functions. Taken together, our data suggest that conflict resolution is supported by the cascade of neural processes underlying early selective visuospatial attention and frontal executive functions that unfold over time.

Westerners tend to relate items in a categorical manner, whereas Easterners focus more on functional relationships. The present study extended research on semantic organization in long-term memory to working memory. First, Americans' and Turks' preferences for categorical versus functional relationships were tested. Second, working memory interference was assessed using a 2-back working memory paradigm in which lure items were categorically and functionally related to targets. Next, a mediation model tested direct effects of culture and semantic organization on working memory task behaviour, and the indirect effect, whether semantic organization mediated the relationship between culture and working memory interference. Whereas Americans had slower response times to correctly rejecting functional lures compared to categorical lures, conditions did not differ for Turks. However, semantic organization did not mediate cultural difference in working memory interference. Across cultures, there was evidence that semantic organization affected working memory errors, with individuals who endorsed categorical more than functional pairings committing more categorical than functional errors on the 2-back task. Results align with prior research suggesting individual differences in use of different types of semantic relationships, and further that literature by indicating effects on interference in working memory. However, these individual differences may not be culture-dependent.

Westerners tend to relate items in a categorical manner, whereas Easterners focus more on functional relationships. The present study extended research on semantic organization in long-term memory to working memory. First, Americans’ and Turks’ preferences for categorical versus functional relationships were tested. Second, working memory interference was assessed using a 2-back working memory paradigm in which lure items were categorically and functionally related to targets. Next, a mediation model tested direct effects of culture and semantic organization on working memory task behavior, and the indirect effect, whether semantic organization mediated the relationship between culture and working memory interference. Whereas Americans had slower response times to correctly rejecting functional lures compared to categorical lures, conditions did not differ for Turks. However, semantic organization did not mediate cultural difference in working memory interference. Across cultures, there was evidence that semantic organization affected working memory errors, with individuals who endorsed categorical more than functional pairings committing more categorical than functional errors on the 2-back task. Results align with prior research suggesting individual differences in use of different types of semantic relationships, and further that literature by indicating effects on interference in working memory. However, these individual differences may not be culture-dependent.

Prior cross-cultural studies have demonstrated differences among Eastern and Western cultures in memory and cognition along with variation in neuroanatomy and functional engagement. We further probed cultural neuroanatomical variability in terms of its relationship with memory performance. Specifically, we investigated how memory performance related to gray matter volume in several prefrontal lobe structures, including across cultures. For 58 American and 57 Taiwanese young adults, memory performance was measured with the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) using performance on learning trial 1, on which Americans had higher scores than the Taiwanese, and the long delayed free recall task, on which groups performed similarly. MRI data were reconstructed using FreeSurfer. Across both cultures, we observed that larger volumes of the bilateral rostral anterior cingulate were associated with lower scores on both CVLT tasks. In terms of effects of culture, the relationship between learning trial 1 scores and gray matter volumes in the right superior frontal gyrus had a trend for a positive relationship in Taiwanese but not in Americans. In addition to the a priori analysis of select frontal volumes, an exploratory whole-brain analysis compared volumes—without considering CVLT performance—across the two cultural groups in order to assess convergence with prior research. Several cultural differences were found, such that Americans had larger volumes in the bilateral superior frontal and lateral occipital cortex, whereas Taiwanese had larger volumes in the bilateral rostral middle frontal and inferior temporal cortex, and the right precuneus.