Brain scans of Black women who experience racism show trauma-like effects, putting them at higher risk for future health problems

The Research Brief is a short version of interesting scientific work.

The big idea

Black women who have experienced more racism all their lives have stronger brain responses to threats that can harm their long-term health, according to a new study I conducted with clinical neuropsychologist Negar Fani and other colleagues.

I am part of a research team that has been researching for more than 15 years how stress related to trauma can affect the mind and body. In our current study, we took a closer look at a stress factor that black Americans in the US are confronted with disproportionately: racism.

My colleagues and I conducted research on 55 black women who reported their exposure to traumatic experiences such as child abuse and physical or sexual violence, as well as racial discrimination and unfair treatment based on race or ethnicity.

We asked them to focus on a task that required attention while looking at stressful pictures. We used functional MRIs to monitor their brain activity during this time.

We found that black women who reported more experiences with racial discrimination had higher responsiveness in areas of the brain associated with alertness and threat – that is, the middle occipital cortex and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Their reactions went far beyond the reactions caused by traumatic experiences unrelated to racism. Our research suggests that racism had a traumatic effect on the health of black women; Regularly attuned to the threat of racism can strain vital body regulatory tools and worsen brain health.

Other trauma research shows that this type of continuous response to threats can increase the risk of mental health disorders and additional future brain health problems.

Why it matters

Black Americans continue to suffer from health inequalities, including a disproportionately higher risk of stroke, cognitive decline, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, compared to white Americans. While research has consistently shown that the chronic stress of racism can get under the skin and, over time, leave a biological residue of permanent health consequences for black Americans, little research has explored the effects of racism on brain function and health.

There is a long and well-established history of research linking traumatic experiences such as childhood abuse, physical assault, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder with changes in brain function that lead to negative health outcomes. Our study is one of the first to examine how the brain might respond to experiences of racial discrimination beyond other traumatic stressors.

Black women may be particularly vigilant about threats in their environment as they have had to adapt to life in social spaces that perpetuate racism. Knowing this could be a step forward in research and advocacy efforts aimed at reducing health inequalities.

Which is not yet known

Our research shows that black people’s experiences of racism can affect the brain’s response and adaptation, which deserves more research attention. My colleagues and I believe that neurobiological research is only just beginning to adequately examine the effects of racism on the health inequalities of this population group. Our study provides a first glimpse into the need to take into account the traumatic nature of racism in black lives.

More research is needed at all stages of life, including childhood, to understand how and when some blacks develop high levels of vigilance to threats related to racial discrimination and how this affects their health.

What’s next

I plan to do more research inspired by the results of this study.

Fear is a burden on the body, but it can also have a protective effect. I hope to gain a better understanding of the costs and benefits of threat fear in the context of chronic oppression for some black Americans.

I am also interested in how blacks describe, experience, and address potential threats when the threat comes from those in positions of power who are expected to protect and serve.

This article was republished by The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

source https://www.bisayanews.com/2021/09/19/brain-scans-of-black-women-who-experience-racism-show-trauma-like-effects-putting-them-at-higher-risk-for-future-health-problems/