Racism affects the ultrastructure of the brain

Overview: In black women, racism affects the microstructure of the brain, especially the anterior cingulate gyrus and corpus callosum, increasing its negative impact on mental health.

sauce: Elsevier

Racism increases the risk of physical and mental illness, and black women suffer from illness at a much higher rate than white women. How traumatic experiences such as discrimination increase vulnerability to disease remains a topic of intense research.

Currently, new studies show that the experience of racism affects the microstructure of the brain and increases the risk of health problems.

The study, led by Dr. Negar Fani of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and NeuroimagingPublished by Elsevier.

Dr. Fani said: Earlier, I discovered that racism adversely affects the white matter of the brain. We now see that these changes can increase the risk of adverse health effects, perhaps by affecting regulatory behavior. “

For this study, researchers recruited 79 black women from a county hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Women were clinically evaluated for medical disorders ranging from trauma and asthma to diabetes and chronic pain. More than half of the women reported serious financial disadvantages, and their household income was less than $ 1,000 per month, which researchers managed in an analysis.

Participants also underwent a brain scan using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Researchers have measured partial anisotropy (FA) of the brain, which is a reflection of the movement of water through the long, fatty pathways that connect the white matter of the brain, especially the remote areas of the brain. Changes in FA can result from structural destruction of the white matter tract.

Women who experienced more racism showed lower FA in the selected brain tract, which included the anterior cingulate gyrus and the corpus callosum connecting the two hemispheres of the brain. In addition, the structural integrity of these two specific areas mediated the relationship between racism and medical disability in these women.

“It shows a brain mechanism that can have adverse health effects,” Dr. Fani added.

Cameron Carter, MD, Editor Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and NeuroimagingDescribes this study as follows: “These findings are based on the continued experience of racial discrimination in African-American women and have been measured using MRI in relation to a variety of ongoing chronic health problems in the brain. It provides important new evidence that change can occur. Such insights are about the causes of health disparities in minority communities and the potential negative impacts of racism on human health. May contribute to your understanding. “

The authors hypothesize that the burden of trauma and racism can affect the integrity of substances in the brain through the stress system. Affected tubes are involved in emotional regulation and cognitive processes, which in turn can lead to behavioral changes such as increased consumption of drugs and foods that increase the risk of health.

About this neuroscience research news

author: Ryanon Bugno
sauce: Elsevier
contact: Ryanon Bugno-Elsevier
image: This image is credited to Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

Independent research: Closed access.
“”Indirect effects of racism on health outcomes through integrity of prefrontal cortex white matterAccording to Negal Fani et al. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging

See also

Overview

Indirect effects of racism on health outcomes through integrity of prefrontal cortex white matter

Background

Racism has consistently been associated with adverse health effects and is associated with a structural reduction in white matter in the brain. However, it is unclear whether discrimination-related changes in neuroplasticity can indirectly affect health outcomes. Our goal was to assess the indirect association of racism with respect to health outcomes through white microstructure in a sample of black women exposed to trauma.

Method

79 black women were recruited for trauma research in an urban hospital and underwent medical history and physical examination to assess medical disabilities (summarized in total disability types). Participants reported on their experience of racism and obtained diffusion tensor images. Partial anisotropy (FA) values ​​are extracted from the white matter pathways previously associated with racism (corpus callosum, CC, including body and genus, anterior longitudinal fasciculus, ACB, and superior longitudinal fasciculus, SLF). , Entered into the mediation model.

result

The indirect effects of racial discrimination on medical disability via left ACBFA were significant β = .07, SE = .04, 95% CI [.003, .14] After considering trauma and financial disadvantages. The indirect effects of racial discrimination on medical disorders via CC genuFA were also significant β = .08, SE = .04, 95% CI [.01, .16]..

Conclusion

Racism can increase the risk of medical disability through the effects of neuroplasticity on the integrity of the microstructure of the stress-sensitive prefrontal cortex white matter tract. Racist-related changes in these areas can affect health behavior, which in turn affects the vulnerability of medical disorders. These data highlight the relationship between racism, frontal white matter relationships, and the incidence of medical disorders in African Americans.