Neurology

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 assessed. Recent research suggests that socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, as well as gender have an impact. These 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. These demographics cannot be ignored if we want to truly understand the neural substrates of cognition of a diverse person, in the general population. Cognitive neuroscience has been and continues to be, used to inform education and clinical policy to practice. Greater innovative diversity

in neuroscience research is needed to improve reproducibility and to serve the treatment needs of a diverse population. The challenges of achieving this goal, including confusing and associated flexible considerations, hiring, required costs and best practices for interaction with them are elucidated.