Search Results (5)

Background/Objectives: With the globalization of companies, the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates working overseas is becoming an increasingly important topic. However, little research has been carried out on the brain, which is the source of the ability to adapt. Methods: Therefore, we conducted a pilot study on 10 expatriates working for Japanese local subsidiaries in the United States to analyze the relationship between their gray matter volume (GMV) measured by the Gray Matter Brain Healthcare Quotient and their cross-cultural adjustment and lifestyle. Results: As a result, in a partial correlation analysis controlled for demographic variables, there was a significant correlation between whole-brain GMV and general adjustment. A relationship was also shown between the local GMV of the default mode network and central executive network and interaction adjustment. Conclusions: This is the first pilot study to clarify the relationship between expatriates’ brain structure and cross-cultural adjustment, suggesting the effectiveness of a biological approach in cross-cultural adjustment research. Full article

Background/Objectives: Interest in diversity is growing worldwide. Today, an understanding and social acceptance of diverse people is becoming increasingly important. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to clarify the relationship between an individual’s gray matter volume (GMV), which is thought to reflect brain health, and their understanding of diversity (gender, sexuality (LGBTQ), and origin). Methods: GMV was determined as the value of the Gray Matter Brain Healthcare Quotient (GM-BHQ) based on MRI image analysis. Meanwhile, participants’ understanding and acceptance of diversity was calculated based on their answers to the psychological questions included in the World Values Survey Wave 7 (WVS7). Results: Our analysis indicated that, in the group of participants with the highest understanding of diversity (PHUD. n = 11), not only the GMV at the whole brain level (t = 2.587, p = 0.027, Cohen’s d = 0.780) but also the GMV of the central executive network (CEN: t = 2.700, p= 0.022, Cohen’s d = 0.814) and saliency network (SN: t = 3.100, p = 0.011, Cohen’s d = 0.935) were shown to be significantly higher than the theoretical value estimated from sex, age, and BMI at the 5% level. In addition, the GMV of the default mode network (DMN: t = 2.063, p = 0.066, Cohen’s d = 0.622) was also higher than the theoretical value at the 10% level. Meanwhile, in the group of others (n = 10), there was no significant difference from the theoretical value. These differences between PHUD and others were also observed when comparing the two with and without controlling for educational and occupational covariates at the 5% or 10% levels. Conclusions: These results suggest that understanding diversity requires a healthy brain, centered on three networks that govern rational judgment, emotion regulation, other-awareness, self-awareness, and the valuing of actions. This is the first study to show that brain structure is related to an understanding and acceptance of the diversity of people. Full article

In addressing the challenge of assessing healthy brain aging across diverse interventions, this study introduces the use of MRI-derived Brain Healthcare Quotients (BHQ) for comprehensive evaluation. We analyzed BHQ changes in 319 participants aged 24–69, who were allocated into dietary (collagen peptide, euglena, matcha, isohumulone, xanthophyll) and physical activity (hand massage with lavender oil, handwriting, office stretching, pink lens, clinical art) groups, alongside a control group, over a month. These interventions were specifically chosen to test the efficacy of varying health strategies on brain health, measured through BHQ indices: GM-BHQ for gray matter volume, and FA-BHQ for white matter integrity. Notably, significant improvements in FA-BHQ were observed in the collagen peptide group, with marginal increases in the hand massage and office stretching groups. These findings highlight BHQ’s potential as a sensitive tool for detecting brain health changes, offering evidence that low-intensity, easily implemented interventions can have beneficial effects on brain health. Moreover, BHQ allows for the systematic evaluation of such interventions using standard statistical approaches, suggesting its value in future brain healthcare research. Full article

Appropriately handling and switching exploration of novel knowledge and exploitation of existing knowledge is a fundamental element of genuine innovation in society. Moreover, a mounting number of studies have suggested that such “ambidexterity” is associated not only with organizational performance but also with the human brain. Among these reports, however, there have not been any definitive MRI-based parameters that objectively and easily evaluate such ambidexterity. Therefore, an MRI-based index derived from gray matter volume, called the gray-matter brain healthcare quotient (GM-BHQ), was used to measure the association between ambidexterity and the entire human brain. For this purpose, 200 healthy adults were recruited as subjects to undergo structural T1-weighted imaging and to answer multiple psychological questionnaires. Ambidexterity was evaluated using two scales: the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory II and the Short Grit Scale, as exploration–exploitation indicators of curiosity and grit, respectively. Additionally, to enrich the understanding of these associations, three additional positive thinking scales were used—the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Life Orientation Test—to evaluate self-efficacy, self-esteem, and optimism, respectively. The authors discovered the GM-BHQ was weakly associated with curiosity, grit, and self-efficacy individually after controlling for age and sex. Furthermore, the GM-BHQ was directly associated with curiosity but indirectly associated with grit in the path model. However, no significant association was found between the GM-BHQ and the other outcome indicators (i.e., self-esteem and optimism). These results suggest that brain health is weakly associated with ambidexterity evaluated using psychological tests. Full article

This study investigated the effects of collagen hydrolysates (CH) on language cognitive function and brain structure. In this open-label study, 5 g CH was administered once a day for 4 weeks to 30 healthy participants aged 49–63 years. The primary outcome measures were the brain healthcare quotients based on gray matter volume (GM-BHQ) and fractional anisotropy (FA-BHQ). The secondary outcome measures were changes in scores between week 0 and week 4 for word list memory (WLM) and standard verbal paired associate learning (S-PA) tests as well as changes in the physical, mental, and role/social component summary scores of the Short Form-36(SF-36) quality of life instrument. CH ingestion resulted in significant improvements in FA-BHQ (p = 0.0095), a measure of brain structure, as well in scores for the WLM (p = 0.0046) and S-PA (p = 0.0007) tests, which measure cognitive function. There were moderate correlations between the change in WLM score and the change in GM-BHQ (r = 0.4448; Spearman’s rank correlation) and between the change in S-PA score and the change in FA-BHQ (r = 0.4645). Daily ingestion of CH changed brain structure and improved language cognitive function. Full article