This essay explores the intersection of neuroscience and cultural studies, analyzing how brain function, genetics, and cultural values interact to shape behavior. It highlights the emergence of cultural neuroscience, a field combining disciplines such as neuroplasticity, cultural psychology, and gene-culture coevolution studies, to explain cross-cultural differences. It challenges the notion of unidirectional causation, emphasizing the bidirectional influence between genes, brain processes, and cultural environments. The essay reviews key studies on topics like socio-economic status, racial identification, religiosity, and the serotonin transporter gene, illustrating how culture and neural mechanisms mutually influence one another. Finally, it questions simplistic causal models and stresses the need for nuanced interpretations of how biological and cultural factors coevolve. Continue reading Can neuroscience tell us anything about cross-cultural differences?