Bearing this in mind, it’s no longer debatable that culture has a measurable influence on the brain. Work by Chiao and colleagues (2008) at Northwestern University and in Japan points toward specific cultural priming (beliefs, values and practices) that modulates neural activity within the anterior rostral portion of the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and posterior cingulated cortex (PCC). Initial findings, including some on empathy, are intriguing and at the apex of neuroscience research. Recent studies using fMRI and magneto-ecephalography (MEG) have established that cultural constructs shape the microstructure of the brain and this culturing of the neural signature begins in early childhood and continues into adolescence and early adulthood (Choudhury, 2009; Choudhury and Kirmayer, 2009; Turner and Whitehead, 2008).
