Racism Brings Brain Drain

Interracial interactions are mentally taxing, even for those who are not racist.

By Colin Allen, published on November 01, 2003

Coping with race is mentally draining. A small study of white participants finds that mental capacity decreases after an interaction with a black man--even for those who were not greatly prejudiced. The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, suggests the participants feel strained because of trying to remain race-neutral.

Head researcher Jennifer Richeson, a psychologist from the University of Dartmouth, tested 30 white participants for racial prejudice. Biased subjects took longer to associate negative concepts with whites and positive concepts with blacks.

After the test, the participants interacted with either a black or white male involved with the study. Those who met with the black man scored worse in a cognitive test taken immediately after the meeting. The greater the race bias, the worse the score.

Scans of brain activity found that participants' neural activity increased when looking at photographs of black males. Specifically, it increased in the right dorsolateral prefontal cortex--a part of the brain linked to thoughts and behaviors.

Richeson thinks the increase in mental activity resulted from an attempt to avoid prejudiced behavior. "Individuals perform worse on certain cognitive tasks because they were attempting to control their thoughts, behavior and emotions during the interaction," notes Richeson.