Can you detect if a person is racist with a brain scan?

A few years ago, a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience revealed that it is possible to identify whether a person has racist prejudices using a scanner and showing them portraits of subjects with different skin color . Its author, the neuroscientist Jennifer Richeson, from Dartmouth College (USA), explained that the system serves to detect racist attitudes, but does not imply any type of behavior, since people can be impartial despite the fact that their mental activity indicates that they have some kind of racial bias, which may or may not be intentional.

In the experiments, Richeson and his colleagues showed that those who are racially prejudiced face greater cognitive demands when they have to interact with people of different ethnic groups . And they concluded that this effort causes a mental exhaustion similar to that of a muscle after intense exercise, and that it reduces the ability to cope with subsequent cognitive tasks.

On the other hand, scientists from Yale Law School (USA) have concluded that using brain scans it is possible to predict whether a possible member of a jury has racist prejudices that could influence their verdict. In a study published a few months ago in the journal Social Neuroscience , scientists concluded that using functional MRI in court would be the best way to ensure a neutral jury.