Separable Neural Components in the Processing of Black and White Faces
- 1 December 2004
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Psychological Science
- Vol. 15 (12), 806-813
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00760.x
Abstract
In a study of the neural components of automatic and controlled social evaluation, White participants viewed Black and White faces during event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging. When the faces were presented for 30 ms, activation in the amygdala—a brain region associated with emotion—was greater for Black than for White faces. When the faces were presented for 525 ms, this difference was significantly reduced, and regions of frontal cortex associated with control and regulation showed greater activation for Black than White faces. Furthermore, greater race bias on an indirect behavioral measure was correlated with greater difference in amygdala activation between Black and White faces, and frontal activity predicted a reduction in Black-White differences in amygdala activity from the 30-ms to the 525-ms condition. These results provide evidence for neural distinctions between automatic and more controlled processing of social groups, and suggest that controlled processes may modulate automatic evaluation.Keywords
This publication has 36 references indexed in Scilit:
- Implicit and Explicit Ethnocentrism: Revisiting the Ideologies of PrejudicePersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2004
- Neural components of social evaluation.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2003
- Sex differences in the neural basis of emotional memoriesProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2002
- Amygdala Response to Happy Faces as a Function of ExtraversionScience, 2002
- Neural Correlates of Conscious Self-Regulation of EmotionJournal of Neuroscience, 2001
- Implicit Attitude Measures: Consistency, Stability, and Convergent ValidityPsychological Science, 2001
- Conflict monitoring and cognitive control.Psychological Review, 2001
- The amygdala: vigilance and emotionMolecular Psychiatry, 2000
- The generality of the automatic attitude activation effect.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1992
- Distinguishing conscious from unconscious perceptual processes.Canadian Journal of Psychology / Revue canadienne de psychologie, 1986