Joan Y. Chiao - US grants

One of the most fundamental ways in which cultural beliefs, practices and ideologies influence psychological processes is in the cognitive schema or self-construal style that people use to think about themselves and their relation to others. In particular, previous anthropological and cultural psychological research illustrates two main styles of ways of thinking about one's self: independent (i.e., individualism) and interdependent (i.e., collectivism). Individuals from independent cultures, such as America, value their autonomy, uniqueness, freedom and right to self-expression, whereas individuals interdependent cultures, such as Japan, value social harmony, conformity and adherence to group norms. Cultural variation in self-construal style has previously been shown to broadly affect cognitive and emotional processes, especially those related to the self. Despite a large body of behavioral evidence demonstrating cultural influences on the self and a growing body of studies on the neurobiological mechanisms of self-relevant processes, very little is known about how culture affects self processes in the brain. The main objective of the proposed activity is to examine how culture affects mental and neural mechanisms underlying the self and social behavior. Using functional neuroimaging (fMRI) in a cross-cultural (e.g., Caucasian-Americans and native Japanese) and bicultural cohort of second-generation Japanese-American immigrants, the current research aims to characterize how different cultural styles of self construal affect self-relevant processes in the brain, particularly within the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). One primary aim of the current research is to investigate how independent and interdependent selves differentially represent and process self-relevant information in the mind and brain. Another aim is to investigate neural mechanisms underlying the ability of multicultural individuals, possessing both independent and interdependent styles of self-construal, to "switch" between different self-construal styles depending on their sociocultural context. By incorporating cultural psychological theory into social and cognitive neuroscience research, this research project will lay a critical foundation for future research examining how diverse cultural environments influence the self and social behavior at multiple levels of analysis. At the broadest level, this project will integrate education and research by involving Japanese and American scientists at all levels who will gain training and experience in the development of novel cross-cultural neuroimaging techniques and effective international scientific collaboration. The expected findings may benefit society at large by demonstrating how different cultural styles of self-knowledge can lead to diverse, but effective, avenues to social functioning. This interdisciplinary research may have further implications for understanding the role of cultural factors in vulnerability to and prevalence of social and affective disorders involving the self.

# 0722326, Visualizing culture-gene interactions in neural systems of emotion
Joan Y. Chiao, P.I., Tetsuya Iidaka, Co-P.I., Ahmad R. Hariri, Co-P.I.

What is the relationship between cultural environment and response to emotional stimuli? In this project, researchers will investigate the role that cultural environment plays by examining both genetic expression and underlying neurobiological mechanisms.

The amygdala, a region of the brain associated with processing emotion, has been shown by recent imaging genomics research to vary as a function of type (short vs long allele) of serotonin transporter gene, called 5-HTTLPR. People who carry the short allele version of this functional polymorphism exhibit a greater amygdala response to emotional stimuli relative to people who carry the long allele version of the 5-HTTLPR. Additionally, the population frequency of short vs. long allele carriers of the 5-HTTLPR significantly varies between Caucasian and Japanese populations. However, little is known about how diverse cultural environments affect genetic expression in neural mechanisms underlying emotional behavior.

The current research investigates a view of the neurobiology of emotion as universal, by directly testing whether cultural environment affects 5-HTTLPR expression and amygdala response. The first main objective of the current research is to examine the effect of cultural environment on the expression of the 5-HTTLPR serotonin transporter gene on amygdala response to emotional stimuli by comparing genetic, neuroimaging and behavioral data from Native Japanese and Caucasian-American cohorts. A second objective of the current research is to determine how acculturation affects genetic expression of the 5-HTTLPR on amygdala response to emotional stimuli by including an additional Japanese-American cohort in the cross-cultural comparison. The present research aims to promote teaching, training and learning of universals and cultural variation across multiple levels of analysis. The present research may have further implications for assessing the significance of cultural factors on vulnerability to and prevalence of affective disorders, such as anxiety, in diverse cultural and multicultural populations.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): By 2050, nearly one in five Americans (19%) will be an immigrant, including Hispanics, Blacks and Asians, compared with one in eight (12%) in 2005 (Pew Research Center, 2008). Prior research indicates the prevalence of population mental health disparities across ethnic and racial minority groups. The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies (2009) estimates that eliminating racial/ethnic minority health disparities would have reduced indirect costs in the United States associated with illness and premature death by more than $1 trillion between 2003 and 2006 alone. Given this increase in cultural diversity within the United States and the existence of costly population health disparities across cultural groups, it is essential to develop a more sophisticated understanding of how culture affects basic psychological and biological mechanisms underlying mental health across diverse communities as well as how such basic research in culture and health can be translated in applied settings to reduce population health disparities in quality and access to treatment for illness. The goal of the proposed grant is to implement a series of scientific meetings and infrastructural initiatives to create interdisciplinary teams of basic behavioral and social scientists that adopt a cultural neuroscience approach to addressing questions central to culture and health, particularly global mental health and population mental health disparities. Our goal is to create and sustain an international, interdisciplinary community of scientists that will allow for the acceleration, expansion, and strengthening of the scope of investigation in the emerging field of cultural neuroscience as well as to increase the sophistication of theoretical, methodological, and analytical approaches in cultural neuroscience. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goal of the proposed grant is to implement a series of scientific meetings and infrastructural initiatives to create interdisciplinary teams of behavioral and social scientists that adopt a cultural neuroscience approach to addressing questions central to culture and health, particularly global mental health and population mental health disparities.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Racial disparities exist in access to and quality of health care treatment of pain (e.g. Todd et al., 1993 &2000), a medical condition that affects more Americans than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined (CDC, 2006). Compared to Caucasian-Americans, African Americans experience clinical (Edwards et al., 2001) and experimental pain to a greater extent and with greater frequency, likely due to both genetic and environmental factors, and yet are more likely to be undertreated for pain in medical settings (Green et al., 2003;Bonham, 2001). Racial disparities in pain may result from both basic biological differences in how pain is experienced and perceived across racial groups as well as how the pain of different racial groups is perceived and treated in medical settings by healthcare professionals. First, African-Americans are more likely to suffer from acute and chronic pain that accompanies sickle cell disease, a genetic blood disorder characterized by the predominance of hemoglobin S (Hb S) arising from a known mutation of a single SNP of the 2-globin gene (Kwiatkowski, 2005). Second, due to these negative stereotypes, African-Americans typically encounter increased experience with racial discrimination or race-based social pain in interpersonal and work settings, which decreases health, increases mortality (Williams et al., 1997), and may lead to increased sensitivity to and experience of physical pain in this population. Third, racial stereotypes and prejudice can also affect perception and medical judgments of pain (Freeman &Payne, 2000, van Ryn &Burke, 2000), leading to under or inappropriate treatment of pain conditions particularly for African-Americans (Freeman &Payne, 2000). Finally, the potential difficulty or inability to readily receive appropriate medical treatment for pain can lead African-Americans to mistrust or avoid medical settings (Corbie-Smith, Thomas, St George, 2002) which may further exacerbate existing or emerging pain conditions and lead to persistent racial disparities in pain. The aim of the proposed series of neuroimaging and behavioral studies is to investigate the effect of race on the neural response to pain perception and experience, as well as whether racial stereotypes and prejudice affect how both doctors and lay people respond to the physical pain of others. Findings from the proposed research may have important implications for addressing the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms underlying population health disparities in pain experience and care across racial groups. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Racial disparities exist in the experience and medical treatment of pain, a medical condition that affects more Americans than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined (CDC, 2006) (e.g. Todd et al., 1993 &2000). The aim of the proposed series of studies is to investigate the effect of race on the neural response to physical pain perception and experience, and to examine the effects of racial stereotyping and prejudice on pain perception and diagnosis in a medical and non-medical setting.

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Affective disorders, such as anxiety and depression, affect one out of every four Americans (Kessler & Ustun, 2008), the highest rate in the world. Over $42 billion dollars are spent in the United States each year to treat them (Kessler & Ustun, 2008). Cross-national epidemiological studies conducted by the World Health Organization in 2008 revealed robust population mental health disparities across cultural groups, particularly in prevalence of anxiety and depression, with higher rates of mood disorders typically found in Western (e.g., US) compared to non-Western cultures (e.g., Japan and South Africa). Cross-ethnic epidemiological studies conducted within the United States have found similar population mental health disparities across ethnic groups, with higher rates of affective disorders typically found in Caucasian-Americans compared to African- Americans and Asian-Americans. Despite epidemiological evidence for population mental health disparities across cultural and ethnic groups, the specific role that social and neurobiological mechanisms play in racial differences in the etiology of affective disorders remains unknown. For instance, there do not yet exist any neuroimaging studies of emotion comparing African and non-African responses in either healthy or clinical populations. This is due, in large part, to the lack of research infrastructure in Afria for studying emotional responses in Africans and comparing them to Asians and Caucasians. Our proposed research aims to bridge translational gaps in basic and clinical science by (1) developing research capacity in South Africa in affective neuroscience by creating stimuli and validating cross-site experimental paradigms and (2) using neuroimaging, autonomic and behavioral techniques to study emotional response in three distinct cultural groups: Africans, Caucasian-Americans and Japanese. These proposed studies will build research capacity in affective neuroscience in Africa by providing novel research paradigms and training opportunities for scientists in Africa. Results from these studies have the potential to be among the first to empirically demonstrate a link between racial disparities in affective disorders and sociocultural differences in basic neural mechanisms underlying typical and atypical emotion. Results from these studies also have the potential to make a significant theoretical contribution by outlining novel physiological mechanisms underlying differential emotional response previously observed and reported among minority groups. Findings from the proposed studies may provide the foundation for future grant applications examining the genetic and environmental factors contributing to racial disparities in affective disorders at social, neural ad behavioral levels of analysis. By understanding how cultural values affect neural mechanisms underlying emotional functioning, we may gain further insight into how affective disorders can be both prevented and treated across cultural groups.