The importance of diversity in cognitive neuroscience

Abstract

The vast majority of what is known about the neural underpinnings of human cognition comes from studies limited to racially, ethnically, and socioeconomically homogeneous samples. Furthermore, although most studies include both males and females in their samples, sex differences in patterns of brain activity and performance are rarely evaluated. We discuss recent research suggesting that one's socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and sex contribute to individual differences in neural structure, function, and related cognitive performance across a variety of cognitive domains. These studies make it clear that findings from decades of cognitive neuroscience research are likely not generalizable to a population that is much more diverse than the samples tested. We argue that these demographics cannot be ignored if we want to understand the neural substrates of human cognition for the diverse, general population. Cognitive neuroscience has been, and continues to be, used to inform education policy and clinical practice. We argue that greater diversity in cognitive neuroscience research is needed to improve reproducibility and to serve the treatment needs of a diverse population. We discuss the challenges to achieving this goal, including consideration of confounding and correlated variables, recruitment, necessary costs, and best practices for dealing with them.

Age- and Sex-Specific Standard Scores for the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test

“…All participants showed agreement on both factors (see also Kynast et al, 2020). Furthermore, other factors such as environment, culture and experience may drive (social) cognitive performance beyond sex/gender (see Jäncke, 2018 for review; but also Dotson and Duarte, 2020 for the importance of sex/gender in neuroscience). Secondly, education was dichotomized based on years of formal education and graduation diploma for practicability reasons.…”

Mindreading From the Eyes Declines With Aging – Evidence From 1,603 Subjects

“…Accordingly, Hyde (2005) postulated the gender similarities hypothesis -based on meta-analytical evidence -that males and females are similar on most psychological variables. To expand the view within social cognitive research, future studies must incorporate a broader definition beyond the conventional concept of sex/gender to fully picture the diversity in sexual identity and its impact on cognitive processes (see Ainsworth, 2015;Dotson and Duarte, 2020). Due to the conceptual limitations of our study regarding this parameter we abstained here from discussing our results in depth.…”

Reporting of Demographic Variables in Neuropsychological Research: An Update of O’Bryant et al.’s Trends in the Current Literature

“…Adequate description and characterization of study samples are crucial for the replicability of study findings and can help elucidate the reasons for variability when results are not replicated. The overwhelming majority of neuropsychological tests are developed primarily in the context of WEIRD samples and what is known about performance on these tests is likely restricted to our understanding of these specific samples (Dotson & Duarte, 2020). Honest disclosure of the demographic makeup of samples will allow for the evaluation of the generalizability of reported findings.…”

“…In a meta-analysis on SES and executive functioning in a pediatric population, SES was associated with cognitive outcomes with effect sizes in the range of r = |.02-.47| (Lawson et al, 2018). Moreover, how these various demographic variables intersect and relate to structural and functional brain variables as well as behavioral and cognitive outcomes can be used to inform research and clinical practice (Dotson & Duarte, 2020).…”