The Impact of Racism-Related Stress on Memory

Racism is a public health crisis and a leading cause of health disparities in African Americans and other People of Color (Kral et al., 2024). The pervasive and negative impact of racism also impacts the mental health of these racial groups. Additionally, racism adversely effects memory, namely the amygdala and the hippocampus, which are related to trauma related change. The amygdala and the hippocampus regions are associated with fear, memory, and anxiety. Kral, et.al., (2024) conducted a research study that examined the biological pathway of intergenerational transmission of racial trauma. The researchers also reveal that when a Person of Color experiences racism related trauma or stress, it has severe impacts the individual’s mental health, stress, and possible symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Racism has been defined as differential treatment of members of the African American community, both by individuals and social systems (Lee et al., 2018). It has been noted that African Americans experience poorer physical and mental health results than their White counterparts. African American have been exposed to many different types of racial discrimination. Lee, et.al., (2018), reports that the greater exposure to racial discrimination, the stressors can accelerate the deterioration of health promoted by dysregulating stress pathways. Prolonged exposure to racial discrimination increases stress responses which may limit the exposure to cortisol.

Jiang, et.al., (2019), indicates that the stress hormone, cortisol, can enhance the consolidation of memories and impair the retrieval of memories. Prolonged exposure to chronic stress, specifically racial discrimination, in African Americans and People of Color, is associated with long-term memory deficits. When the African American experiences repeated and intense exposures to racial discrimination, the more stress responses the individual experiences. These harsh experiences continue to decrease physical health and mental health and eventually reduce cognitive functioning and accelerates cognitive ageing (Gaysina, et. al., 2014). In other words, when a Person of Color experiences racial discrimination, at an intergenerational level, it has a massive negative impact on the continued plight to be seen as equal with their counterparts.

It can be hard to operate or function in life when faced with the many obstacles physically, mentally, and physiologically. When a Person of Color has these experiences, it is hard to live a daily life when you are constantly in a hyperarousal state, or physical and mental health decline due to the chronic stress of racism discrimination. Hobson, et. al., (2022), suggests that there are six types of racism related stress, direct and indirect stress, racial microaggressions, chronic-contextual, collective, and transgenerational transmission. 

When a Person of Color endures the acts of racism related stress, it contributes to chronic cortisol elevation and consequently over time can lead to allostatic load. Allostatic load is when the body’s ability to maintain stability is dysregulated by the exposure to pervasive acts of racial discrimination. Allostatic load can lead to an increased risk to a wide variety to physical and mental health problems, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, mental health problems, and cognitive impairment. Chronic stress from racial discrimination can lead to allostatic load which can than affect regions of the brain such as the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex which impacts memory (Lenart-Bugla, et. al., 2022). 

In conclusion, the impact of racial discrimination has detrimental consequences to People of Color that experiences this on a day-to-day basis. It is difficult to trust others when in a constant hyperarousal state and unable to regulate emotions, when the memories of horrific events live within the automatic nervous system increasing stress responses. 

References

Gaysina, D., Gardner, M. P., Richards, M., & Ben-Shlomo, Y. (2014). Cortisol and cognitive function in midlife: The role of childhood cognition and educational attainment. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 47, 189–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2014.05.018

Hobson, J. M., Moody, M. D., Sorge, R. E., & Goodin, B. R. (2022). The neurobiology of social stress resulting from racism: Implications for pain disparities among racialized minorities. Neurobiology of Pain, 12, 100101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ynpai.2022.100101

Jiang, A., Tran, T. T., Madison, F. N., & Bakker, A. (2019). Acute stress-induced cortisol elevation during memory consolidation enhances pattern separation. Learning & Memory, 26(4), 138–143. https://doi.org/10.1101/lm.048173.118 

Kral, T. R. A., Williams, C. Y., Wylie, A. C., McLaughlin, K., Stephens, R. L., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Birn, R. M., Propper, C. B., & Short, S. J. (2024). Intergenerational effects of racism on amygdala and hippocampus resting state functional connectivity. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 17034. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-66830-3 

Lee, D. B., Peckins, M. K., Heinze, J. E., Miller, A. L., Assari, S., & Zimmerman, M. A. (2018). Psychological pathways from racial discrimination to cortisol in African American males and females. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 41(2), 208–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-017-9887-2 

Lenart-Bugla, M., Szcześniak, D., Bugla, B., Kowalski, K., Niwa, S., Rymaszewska, J., & Misiak, B. (2022). The association between allostatic load and brain: A systematic review. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 144, 105917. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105917