Culture and Math

Neuroeducation and Mathematics: The Formation of New Educational Practices

Recent research in educational neuroscience has established the correlation between the way the human brain works and the process of perceiving and learning mathematical concepts. In this chapter, a research approach is proposed, based on the principles of educational neuroscience, and focuses on the way students deal with new knowledge in mathematics. Initially, using neuroscientific techniques and a multidimensional approach to new knowledge, data will be collected from students. By collecting neurophysiological measurements and analyzing the data, an attempt will be made to formulate learning paths for a better understanding of fractional concepts, based on the needs of each student.

Visualizing Research Trends on Culture Neuroscience (2008–2021): A Bibliometric Analysis

Recently, cultural neuroscience has gained attention as a new, important, and interdisciplinary topic in the field of neuroscience. It helps us understand the interaction of cultural and biological factors over the course of life. This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the field to readers and potential researchers engaged in cultural neuroscience research. A bibliometric analysis was performed on 113 articles in the field of cultural neuroscience from 2008 to 2021 using data from the core collection of Web of Science. Network visualization software VOSviewer and ITGInsight were used for performance analysis and science mapping. Specifically, the performance analysis included countries, institutions, authors, papers, and journals, while science mapping analyzed the collaboration network, keyword network, bibliographic coupling network, and time series evolution. The results showed that the United States was the most productive country, Northwestern University was the most influential research institution, Chiao Jy was the most influential scholar, and “Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience” made the greatest contribution to publishing in the field of cultural neuroscience. Furthermore, collaboration is expected to be the development trend in the future. The key research topics in the field of cultural neuroscience included neuroimaging and psychiatric diseases, theoretical methods, interdisciplinary research, cultural differences (collectivism and individualism), and brain functions. Finally, future research will focus on cultural neuroscience, culture, and self, while adolescence will be the emerging research frontier.

Culture, Ethnicity, and Level of Education in Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent cause of dementia, where the abnormal accumulation of beta-amyloid (Aβ) and tau lead to neurodegeneration as well as loss of cognitive, behavioral, and functional abilities. The present review analyzes AD from a cross-cultural neuropsychological perspective, looking at differences in culture-associated variables, neuropsychological test performance and biomarkers across ethnic and racial groups. Studies have found significant effects of culture, preferred language, country of origin, race, and ethnicity on cognitive test performance, although the definition of those grouping terms varies across studies. Together, with the substantial underrepresentation of minority groups in research, the inconsistent classification might conduce to an inaccuratte diagnosis that often results from biases in testing procedures that favor the group to which test developers belong. These biases persist even after adjusting for variables related to disadvantageous societal conditions, such as low level of education, unfavorable socioeconomic status, health care access, or psychological stressors. All too frequently, educational level is confounded with culture. Minorities often have lower educational attainment and lower quality of education, causing differences in test results that are then attributed to culture. Higher levels of education are also associated with increased cognitive reserve, a protective factor against cognitive decline in the presence of neurodegeneration. Biomarker research suggests there might be significant differences in specific biomarker profiles for each ethnicity/race in need of accurate cultural definitions to adequately predict risk and disease progression across ethnic/racial groups. Overall, this review highlights the need for diversity in all domains of AD research that lack inclusion and the collection of relevant information from these groups.