Cultural Differences in Inhibitory Control: An ALE Meta-Analysis

Culture greatly influences our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, affecting how we communicate and make decisions. There is an ongoing debate regarding the belief that people from Eastern cultures possess greater self-control abilities when compared to people from Western cultures. In this study, we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain sciences 2023-06, Vol.13 (6), p.907
Main Authors: Gavazzi, Gioele, Noferini, Chiara, Benedetti, Viola, Cotugno, Maria, Giovannelli, Fabio, Caldara, Roberto, Mascalchi, Mario, Viggiano, Maria Pia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Beer
Brain mapping
Brain research
Cognitive ability
Cultural differences
Culture
Eastern culture
Frontal gyrus
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
inhibitory control
Medical imaging
Meta-analysis
Neuroimaging
Prefrontal cortex
right prefrontal cortex
Self control
Systematic Review
Western culture
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Summary:Culture greatly influences our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, affecting how we communicate and make decisions. There is an ongoing debate regarding the belief that people from Eastern cultures possess greater self-control abilities when compared to people from Western cultures. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis using the Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) algorithm to compare 30 studies (719 subjects, 373 foci) that used fMRI to investigate the performance in Go-Nogo and Stop Signal Tasks of participants from Western and/or Eastern countries. Our meta-analysis found differences between the networks activated in Eastern and Western culture participants. The right prefrontal cortex showed distinct patterns, with the Inferior Frontal gyrus more active in the Eastern group and the middle and superior frontal gyri more active in the Western group. Our findings suggest that Eastern culture subjects have a higher tendency to activate brain regions involved in proactive inhibitory control, while Western culture subjects rely more on reactive inhibitory brain regions during cognitive control tasks. This implies that proactive inhibition may play a crucial role in promoting the collective and interdependent behavior typical of Eastern cultures, while reactive inhibition may be more important for efficient cognitive control in subjects of Western cultures that prioritize individualism and independence.
ISSN:2076-3425
2076-3425
DOI:10.3390/brainsci13060907