Reflection on one’s own attributes is an important mental process that is encouraged by both Western and East Asian cultures. However, how the human brain conducts self-reflection is strongly influenced by an individual’s cultural experiences and genetic makeup. I’ll present our recent functional brain imaging studies that showed evidence that neural correlates of reflection on oneself and close others are influenced by Western/East Asian cultural experiences and a specific gene (5-HTTLPR). In addition, this gene influences the association between brain activity underlying self-reflection and individuals’ cultural trait, suggesting culture-gene interaction on the neural correlates of self-reflection. The implications of these brain imaging findings will be discussed.
Dr. Shihui Han is a distinguished professor at the Department of Psychology, Peking University, and a principal investigator at PKU-IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Peking University. He is the director of Culture and Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory. He served as the Chair of the Department of Psychology at Peking University between 2003 and 2007.