Putting race in context: social class modulates processing of race in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and amygdala.

ABSTRACT: A growing body of literature demonstrates that racial group membership can influence neural responses, e.g. when individuals perceive or interact with persons of another race. However, little attention has been paid to social class, a factor that interacts with racial inequalities in American society. We extend previous literature on race-related neural activity by focusing on how the human brain responds to racial out-groups cast in positively valued social class positions vs less valued ones. We predicted that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala would have functionally dissociable roles, with the vmPFC playing a more significant role within socially valued in-groups (i.e. the middle-class) and the amygdala having a more crucial role for socially ambivalent and thr

SUBMITTER: Firat RB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5597864 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature