ArticleBiological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging2018
Experiences of Discrimination Are Associated With Greater Resting Amygdala Activity and Functional Connectivity.
Article in Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 65 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Racism-based Stress Injury and Biomarkers of Stress: A Feasibility Study and Correlation Study
Effects of Compassion-Based Resiliency Training (CBRT) Intervention on Racism-based Stress Among African Americans: A Pilot Study
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Meta-Analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies on In-Group and Out-Group Categorization.Brain and behavior · 2026Pooled it
- Racial Discrimination and Multiple Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of the neural correlates of sexual minority stress: towards an intersectional minority mosaic framework with implications for a future research agenda.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2022Pooled it
- Oxytocinergic Modulation of Stress-Associated Amygdala-Hippocampus Pathways in Humans Is Mediated by Serotonergic Mechanisms.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2022Trial
- Discrimination and C-reactive protein across the life course: Findings from three national US cohorts.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- Racism and alterations in brain structure and function: A narrative review of emerging neuroimaging evidence in racialized individuals.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2026Review
- Sex- and Region-Dependent Differences in Sharp Wave-Ripples Along the Long Axis of the Hippocampus.Cells · 2026Article
- Perceived Racism, Brain Development, and Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms: Findings From the ABCD Study.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Major Lifetime Discrimination Exposure Accelerates Brain Microstructural Aging: Diffusion MRI Evidence From MIDUS.Biopsychosocial science and medicine · 2026Article
- Perceived Racial Stress Effects on Neuropsychological Functioning in African Americans are Mediated by the Brain's Reward/Safety SEEKING Systems via Neuroimmune and Neuroendocrine Pathways.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Associations of Racial Discrimination with Resting-state Network Topology: A Mechanism for Post-traumatic Sensory Disruptions.Research square · 2026Article
- The role of social context in cognitive and neurobehavioural outcomes in epilepsy.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2026Review
- Associations between amygdala connectivity and experienced discrimination in children.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Racial Discrimination-Related Interoceptive Network Disruptions: A Pathway to Disconnection.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2026Article
- Association Between Exposure to Age Discrimination and Nutritional Risk: Findings from a Nationwide Sample of Older Adults in South Korea.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Identifying neural mediators and cultural moderators of the association between discrimination and depression among Mexican American youth.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Racial discrimination and anxiety in African American youth: Risk, resilience, and intervention.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2025Review
- Childhood abuse and neglect are differentially related to perceived discrimination and structural change in empathy-related circuitry.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The association between racism and psychosis: An umbrella review.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Biomarkers of racism-based stress injury: A feasibility and correlation study.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2025Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSocial discrimination, a type of psychological stressor, is associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes, yet we have little understanding of how discrimination affects neural functions in marginalized populations. By contrast, the effects of psychological stress on neural functions are well documented, with evidence of significant effects on the amygdala-a neural region that is central to psychosocial functions. Accordingly, we conducted an examination of the relation between self-reported discrimination exposure and amygdala activity in a diverse sample of adults.
methodsSeventy-four adults (43% women; 72% African American; 23% Hispanic; 32% homosexual/bisexual) completed self-report ratings of discrimination exposure. Spontaneous amygdala activity and functional connectivity were assessed during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.
resultsGreater discrimination exposure was associated with higher levels of spontaneous amygdala activity. Increases in discrimination were also associated with stronger functional connectivity between the amygdala and several neural regions (e.g., anterior insula, putamen, caudate, anterior cingulate, medial frontal gyrus), with the most robust effects observed in the thalamus. These effects were independent of several demographic (e.g., race, ethnicity, sex) and psychological (e.g., current stress, depression, anxiety) factors.
conclusionsCollectively, our findings provide the first evidence that social discrimination is independently associated with elevations in intrinsic amygdala activity and functional connectivity, thus revealing clear parallels between the neural substrates of discrimination and psychological stressors of other origins. Such results should spur future investigations of amygdala-based networks as potential etiological factors linking discrimination exposure to adverse physical and mental health outcomes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.