Racial Discrimination and White Matter Microstructure in Trauma-Exposed Black Women.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Experiences of racial discrimination are linked to a range of negative brain health outcomes, but little is known about how these experiences impact neural architecture, including white matter microstructure, which may partially mediate these outcomes. Our goal was to examine associations between racially discriminatory experiences and white matter structural integrity in a sample of Black American women.

Methods

We recruited 116 Black American women as part of a long-standing study of trauma. Participants completed assessments of racial discrimination, trauma exposure, and posttraumatic stress disorder and underwent diffusion tensor imaging. Fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity values were extracted from major white matter tracts throughout the brain.

Re

SUBMITTER: Fani N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8714668 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature