Browsing by Author "Wu, Changwei W."

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Culture-Related and Individual Differences in Regional Brain Volumes: A Cross-Cultural Voxel-Based Morphometry Study
(2019-09-10)
Huang, Chih-Mao
;
Doole, Robert
;
Wu, Changwei W.
;
Huang, Hsu-Wen
;
Chao, Yi-Ping
Converging behavioral and functional neuroimaging evidence indicates that East Asian and Western individuals have different orientations for processing information that may stem from contrasting cultural values. In this cross-cultural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, we used voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approach to investigate culture-related and individual differences of independent-interdependent orientation in structural brain volume between 57 Taiwanese and 56 Western participants. Each participant's degree of endorsement of independent and interdependent cultural value was assessed by their self-report on the Singelis Self-Construal Scale (SCS). Behaviorally, Taiwanese rated higher SCS scores than Westerners in interdependent value and Westerners rated higher SCS scores than Taiwanese in independent value. The VBM results demonstrated that Western participants showed greater gray matter (GM) volume in the fronto-parietal network, whereas Taiwanese participants showed greater regional volume in temporal and occipital regions. Our findings provide supportive evidence that socio-cultural experiences of learned independent-interdependent orientations may play a role in regional brain volumes. However, strategic differences in cognition, genetic variation, and/or modulations of other environmental factors should also be considered to interpret such culture-related effects and potential individual differences.
Mindfulness Improves Emotion Regulation and Executive Control on Bereaved Individuals: An fMRI Study
(2019-01-28)
Huang, Feng-Ying
;
Hsu, Ai-Ling
;
Hsu, Li-Ming
;
Tsai, Jaw-Shiun
;
Huang, Chih-Mao
The grief of bereavement is recognized as a severe psychosocial stressor that can trigger a variety of mental and physical disorders, and the long-lasting unresolved grief has a detrimental effect on brain functionality. Literature has documented mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as an efficient treatment for improving well-being, specifically related to the mood and cognition, in a variety of populations. However, little attention has been devoted to neural mechanisms with regard to bereaved individuals' cognition after MBCT intervention. In this study, we recruited 23 bereaved participants who lost a significant relative within 6 months to 4 years to attend 8-week MBCT course. We used self-reporting questionnaires to measure emotion regulation and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with the numerical Stroop task to evaluate the MBCT effect on executive control among the bereaved participants. The self-reported questionnaires showed improvements on mindfulness and reductions in grief, difficulties in emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression after the MBCT intervention. The fMRI analysis demonstrated two scenarios: (1) the activity of the fronto-parietal network slightly declined accompanied with significant improvements in the reaction time of incongruent trials; (2) the activities in the posterior cingulate cortex and thalamus were positively associated with the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief, implying emotional interferences on cognitive functions. Results indicated that MBCT facilitated the executive control function by alleviating the emotional interferences over the cognitive functions and suggested that the 8-week MBCT intervention significantly improved both executive control and emotion regulation in bereaved individuals.