The science of culture

Looking at her sparse and undecorated office, it's obvious that Prof. Angela Gutchess (PSYC) is new on campus. Her workspace lacks the musky smell and eccentric chaos of a seasoned professor's, and its lack of personality contrasts sharply with her youthful nature.Although Gutchess' office may seem out of place here at Brandeis, her work on cultural cognition and neural activity certainly is not. Her research on the differences in brain activity between cultural groups perfectly echoes our campus' emphasis on multiculturalism and diversity.

"We are such a multicultural society now that we can't assume everyone processes everything the same way," says Gutchess, 31, who arrived at Brandeis as an assistant professor this semester.

Gutchess' research shows that people from different cultural backgrounds show activity in different areas of the brain when placed in certain circumstances or when presented with certain stimuli. Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging-magnetic fields and radio waves that produce high-quality images of brain structures, and similar techniques-Gutchess has been able to highlight specific differences in brain activity between various cultural groups.

These types of physiological data present a new approach to studying cultural differences, and they present a new perspective to previous work in cultural cognition.

The differences in brain activity can provide meaningful, neuroscientific insight into previous social and developmental observations. For example, Gutchess is interested in using her research to examine brain activity and neuroscientific explanations for specific cultural phenomena, such as the perception that Americans are strongly goal-oriented and motivated.

Although there isn't much research being done to examine neural differences between cultural groups, Gutchess believes it is certainly a growing area of interest.

"Initially there was some reluctance. How can you measure culture in the brain?" she says.

But Gutchess's work, despite being new and unusual, is very appropriate at Brandeis.

"I can bridge a few different areas. People in the cognitive-neuroscience division and the social-developmental division, the two areas of the Psych department," she explains.

Before coming to teach at Brandeis, Gutchess conducted postdoctoral research in the Schacter Lab at Harvard University and at Massachusetts General Hospital, using neuroimaging to examine human memory and aging. She was hired by Brandeis over a year ago, but deferred acceptance in order to finish her research at Harvard.

Despite her passion for her work, Gutchess wasn't always interested in the type of research she does now. As an undergraduate at Boston University, she majored in English education before changing her academic focus to psychology. Gutchess didn't become interested in using technology to explore human cognition until working on her M.A. and, later, her Ph.D. degrees from the Cognition and Perception Program at the University of Michigan. She finished her M.A. in 2002 and her Ph.D. in 2004.

When she's not in the lab, Gutchess, who calls Dryden, N.Y home, volunteers through Boston Cares, a nonprofit organization that arranges community services activities throughout the Boston area.

Brandeis students are excited to have Gutchess join Brandeis' faculty and have surprised her with a warm welcome and sincere interest in her work, she says.

Gutchess advertised for help in her lab last spring and, despite the fact that she hadn't taught or interacted with students yet, she received many responses, she says.

Students seem eager to work with and learn from her and have started contacting Gutchess about "Research Methods and Laboratory in Psychology," which she'll be teaching at Brandeis next semester, she says.

"You guys are keeping me on my toes. I'm still working on the syllabus," remarks Gutchess of her students, smiling.

Gutchess is just as excited about her upcoming classes as her students are.

"It's been a few years since I've taught. But I'm really excited. People really take teaching seriously.