Racial bias in neural response to others' pain is reduced with other-race contact

Abstract

Observing the pain of others has been shown to elicit greater activation in sensory and emotional areas of the brain suggested to represent a neural marker of empathy. This modulation of brain responses to others' pain is dependent on the race of the observed person, such that observing own-race people in pain is associated with greater activity in the anterior cingulate and bilateral insula cortices compared to other-race people. Importantly, it is not known how this racial bias to pain in other-race individuals might change over time in new immigrants or might depend on the level and quality of contact with people of the other-race. We investigated these issues by recruiting Chinese students who had first arrived in Australia within the past 6 months to 5 years and assessing their level of contact with other races across different social contexts using comprehensive rating scales. During fMRI, participants observed videos of own-race/other-race individuals, as well as own-group/other-group individuals, receiving painful or non-painful touch. The typical racial bias in neural responses to observed pain was evident, whereby activation in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was greater for pain in own-race compared to other-race people. Crucially, activation in the anterior cingulate to pain in other races increased significantly with the level of contact participants reported with people of the other race. Importantly, this correlation did not depend on the closeness of contact or personal relationships, but simply on the overall level of experience with people of the other race in their every-day environment. Racial bias in neural responses to others' pain, as a neural marker of empathy, therefore changes with experience in new immigrants at least within 5 years of arrival in the new society and, crucially, depends on the level of contact with people of the other race in every-day life contexts.

The roots of empathy: Through the lens of rodent models

“…Yet two weeks of pair-housing with a member of the other strain were sufficient to induce door-opening for strangers of that strain. This finding suggests that the in-group bias that exists in humans is biologically rooted, and is in line with evidence showing that in humans, social experience can influence empathy for strangers (Martin et al, 2015) and out-group members (Cao et al, 2015; Telzer et al, 2013; Zuo and Han, 2013). Furthermore, the pups that were fostered at birth with litters of another strain were selectively motivated to help their adoptive strain, but not their own strain, as adults.…”

A Culture–Behavior–Brain Loop Model of Human Development

“…Interpersonal interactions between close individuals in a collectivistic culture are associated with overlapping neural representations of oneself and close others in the mPFC, whereas practices of independent behavior in an individualistic culture are associated with separate neural representations of the self and close others [32]. Greater activity in the cingulate cortex in response to perceived pain in racial in-group versus out-group members can be reduced after daily interactions with racial outgroup individuals [69][70][71]. These findings indicate that the functional and structural organization of the brain is highly sensitive to culturally contextualized behavior and life experience.…”

“…These effects are important for children during education that plays a key role in modifying the functional organization of the brain. Brain activity changed even for adults who emigrated to a different culture such that they were able to understand others' mental states easily [70,71]. The direct interaction between culture and brain allows the development of culturally-specific patterned neural processes and provides a neural basis for behavioral acculturation.…”

Empathy gap – what do we know about empathizing with others′ pain?

“…Data indicate that long-lasting contact with another culture can be associated with a higher level of empathy towards members of this culture, in comparison to individuals who had no contact with a different culture. Furthermore, the number of experiences with members of a different culture is important, whereas being close to these people is not important (Zuo & Han, 2013;Cao et al, 2015). Sheng et al (2014) showed that racial bias may be reduced by focusing on pain judgment instruction, rather than race judgment.…”

“…Experiments suggest that if the person in pain shares cultural background with the observer, it is easier to track changes in the intensity of pain experienced by another person, although Canadians (but also Chinese) estimated the intensity of pain experienced by a Caucasian person Benuzzi et al, 2008;Bird et al, 2010;Constantini et al, 2008;Danziger et al, 2009;Gu et al, 2010;Jackson et al, 2005;Lamm et al, 2007a;Lamm et al, 2007b;Lamm & Decety, 2008;Land et al, 2011;Michalska et al, 2013;Morrison & Downing, 2007a;Morrison et al, 2004;Morrison et al, 2007b;Osborn & Derbyshire, 2010;Saarela et al, 2007;Simon et al, 2006;Singer et al, 2004;Singer et al, 2006;Singer et al, 2008;Zaki et al, 2007 167 Caucasians Azevedo et al, 2013;Botvinick et al, 2005;Cheon et al, 2013;Chiao et al, 2009;Contreras-Huerta et al, 2013;Hein et al, 2010;Immordino-Yang et al, 2009;Preis et al, 2013;Xu et al, 2009 112 Asians Cao et al, 2015;Cheon et al, 2013;Wang et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2009;Zuo & Han, 2013 more accurately than if the pain was experienced by a person of Chinese origin. Both groups rated the intensity of the expression of pain lower in other Chinese than in Canadians (ibid.).…”