# Investigating Links Between Racial and Ethnic Discrimination, Neurobiology, and Internalizing Symptomatology

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2022 · $198,750

## Abstract

Title: Investigating Links Between Racial and Ethnic Discrimination, Neurobiology, and Internalizing
Symptomatology
Project Summery/Abstract:
Racial and ethnic discrimination significantly impact mental health, with these types of negative experiences
linked to greater depression and anxiety. While these relations have now been well established in large-scale
epidemiological studies, how racial and ethnic discrimination get “under the skin” to create mental health
challenges is poorly understood. Suggestive data underscores that racial and ethnic discrimination may be
best conceptualized as forms of chronic psychosocial stressors, especially as these experiences are linked
with multi-system biological dysregulation. With these physiological changes likely impacting the brain and
brain development, it will be critical to understand if racial and ethnic discrimination influence brain
development during childhood and adolescence, a developmental transition when the brain is rapidly changing
and when mental health problems are increasing. If racial and ethnic discrimination are compromising brain
development during this time, such negative experiences may have reverberating repercussions across the
lifespan. In the short term, this research will provide insight into how race-related social experiences impact the
brain and lead to depression and anxiety, and shed light on underlying mechanisms (i.e., emotion- and reward-
processing) that play a role in internalizing problems among youth of Color. In the long term, this knowledge
may be critical to the prevention of poor mental health in adolescence and in adulthood among youth of Color.
To achieve these goals, this research will leverage, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD)
Study (Total N=11,875; youth of Color N=~4490) and use cutting-edge neuroimaging and machine learning
methods to examine if brain functional connectivity is impacted by levels of discrimination. Based on past work
in adversity exposed cohorts, we have an a priori interest in the amygdala, ventral striatum, and portions of the
prefrontal cortex. We believe that variations in these neural circuits critical for emotion- and reward-
processing, as well as executive control, will relate to an increased risk for depression and anxiety; however,
we will look for associations between discrimination and functional connectivity across the whole brain. We will
also investigate if youth's sex and socioeconomic status moderate the strength of relations between
discrimination, neural functioning, and internalizing issues. Pinpointing critical pathways between youth of
Color's context and brain development, pathways that are typically overlooked when youth are aggregated,
may be crucial for identifying targets for interventions to prevent depression and anxiety. Understanding these
mechanisms may also give insight into brain development that may be applied to the prevention of other
problem behaviors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10526853
- **Project number:** 1R21MH128793-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Jamie Lars Hanson
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $198,750
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10526853

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10526853, Investigating Links Between Racial and Ethnic Discrimination, Neurobiology, and Internalizing Symptomatology (1R21MH128793-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10526853. Licensed CC0.

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