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This sort of reminds me of the idea of "stereotype threat" - basically that we will behave as we think other people think we will.  So learning about the brain changes the brain in the sense that if someone studies the brain and concludes that men have more inborn mathematical abilities - this "discovery" in itself will hinder women's mathematical abilities if women know they are "supposed" to perform lower.  I think this is why some people are hesitant to make conclusions based on studies of the brain - because once people hear about them, they trust the source (studies on the brain) so much that they believe it must be true and behave accordingly.  Also, there have definitely been examples of people only finding what they look for in science.  If society and education says something is true, somebody can probably justify it from looking at the brain - this seems like a really dangerous power.  This might have been a bit off of what you were asking...