Interesting, it appears that bigotry may exhaust the brain, impairing cognitive function. I wonder
if this could explain aspects of Jan Drew, Debbee, & Rod's behavior.
from: ananova.comsm 838829.htmlOpen ↗
Brain scan 'identifies race bias among white people'
A brain scan that can apparently root out racists has been developed by scientists.
The technique was used on white volunteers shown photographs of black individuals.
In those with racist tendencies, a surge of activity was seen in part of the brain that controls
thoughts and behaviour. Scientists believe this reflected volunteers' attempts to to curb their
latent racism.
After interacting with real black individuals, the same group performed poorly in a task designed to
test mental resources.
The American researchers concluded that harbouring racial prejudice, even unintentionally, stirred
up an inner struggle that exhausted the brain.
Dr Jennifer Richeson, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College,
Hanover, New Hampshire, said: "We were surprised to find brain activity in response to faces of
black individuals predicted how research participants performed on cognitive tasks after actual
interracial interactions."
The scientists first measured the racial bias of 30 white individuals using a standard technique.
Volunteers were given a computer test to record the ease with which they associated with white and
black racial groups with concepts that were positive or negative. Those with higher levels of
racial bias took longer to associate white people with negative concepts and black people with
positive concepts.
The study participants were then asked to interact with either a white or a black individual.
Afterwards, they underwent a test which involved making a mental effort to inhibit instinctive
responses.
The scan experiment employed a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map
brain activity.
Story filed: 13:54 Sunday 16th November 2003