Opinion: Neuroscience has to grapple with a long legacy of racism if it wants to move into the future
Neuroscience and its related fields have long discriminated against Black people. The future can be better.
Many parts of neuroscience research have a race problem. Black people are often excluded from studies due to the texture of their hair, receive erroneous and inaccurate readings due to the melanin content of their skin, and are severely underrepresented in neuroimaging datasets.
Now neurotechnology is undergoing a moment of tremendous change, as Elon Musk’s Neuralink has obtained independent review board approval to conduct its first human trials for the R1 robot and N1 brain implant. That makes it an especially good time to have a frank conversation about who gets to lead innovation in neuroscience, especially within neuroengineering. Getting this wrong has vast consequences.
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