Medical News You Can Use: “I hate you; you’re stupid” Edition – Brain Stimulation Reduces Racial Prejudice

Brain Stimulation Reduces Racial Prejudice

Racial discrimination remains to be a pressing issue across the globe. In a study published in “Brain Stimulation“, Dutch researchers have now demonstrated that racial prejudice can be reduced with brain stimulation.

Scientists at the University of Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands, conducted an experiment in 60 healthy volunteers. Half of the group received transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with a low intensity current administered by electrodes placed on the frontal part of the scalp. The other half received sham treatment.

During the treatment, the participants were asked to categorize positive and negative attributes to in-group and out-group names. Those participants whose neurons had actually been stimulated showed significantly less racial prejudice than persons in the control group.

“Even if preliminary, these results provide the first evidence that racial biases are not immutable,” emphasized study author Lorenza Colzato.