The gender discrimination it has many psychological consequences, but it also remains physically recorded. In fact, according to a study just published in PNASIt can generate changes in the brain of women.
The authors of this study came to this conclusion. after comparing the MRI images of men and women taken in countries with different levels of gender inequality. Thus, they saw that in the countries with greater equity there were hardly any brain differenceswhile in those that did show a clear inequality, there were some specific regions in which the female brain was significantly thinner.
These scientists decided to investigate this issue for two reasons. On the one hand, because brain changes have already been found in children subjected to bullying and discrimination, so the same could happen with women. And, on the other, because a study has already been carried out in which the brains of boys and girls from different states of the USA, taking into account the levels of discrimination in each of them. This new investigation coincides in its results. But let’s see how they got to them.
Effects of discrimination on the brain
To carry out this study, we analyzed 7,876 MRI images of 139 study samples in 29 countries. All of them belonged to men and women aged between between 18 and 32 years old. The authors also had data on the inequality indices in the countries involved, so they proceeded to look for a relationship between these indices and possible differences in brain thickness.
Thus, they saw that in countries with low rates of discrimination there was no Differences between men and women. Just a slight superiority in the latter, but nothing significant.
However, in those whose discrimination indices were high, there were differences, since women had less thickness in three regions of the cerebral cortex: the right caudal anterior cingulate gyrus, the right orbitofrontal gyrus, and the left lateral occipital cortex. These are regions that are associated with emotional resilience and have an important role in depression. In addition, it has been seen that they are also affected in children who are victims of bullying.
Self-fulfilling prophecy?
The authors of this research want to study whether these differences really imply differences in behavior or cognition of men and women. If so, it could be what is known as self-fulfilling prophecy. That is to say, women are discriminated against, because they are supposedly less suitable for certain tasks, and precisely that could make them less suitable.
It would be a vicious circle that would once again demonstrate the pernicious effects of discrimination. We now know that it also affects the brain. What other effects will we have to know?