So I have been thinking about where #neuroracism comes into play in my own field. Generally we consider auditory processing to be a low-level enough perceptual system such that societal issues shouldn't make a difference (but honestly we have no clue). 1/

Still, we perpetuate many systemic ideals of white superiority. One has been discussed, M/EEG is designed for white people & hair.

The result is a huge lack of diversity in our studies that may cause us to claim universality where none exists. 2/ https://twitter.com/motherofneurons/status/1288226973802795014?s=20

Here's another: Most studies of music cognition (mine included) are about western classical music. There are some okay reasons for it. But really it rests on an assumption that classical music carries some fundamental nature that rests on universals of the mind. 3/

This is a big and false claim! And ignores so much more complexity in jazz, gamelan, malian drumming, and other styles with non-western roots. Again, the dangerous claim of universality (rather than cultureal properties) is at hand. (See work by @norijacoby as a model) 4/

Here's another case: "A language is a dialect with an army and a navy." This quote is used a lot by speech scientists and linguists. What do we actually DO about it? not much. We study standard American (or British) English because we are familiar with it. 5/

But what variability are we losing by ignoring AAVE and other dialects? We don't know! Because it is rarely studied. (although see @mixedlinguist)

Its hard to knock any one for studying things they are familiar with. But to assume these are "unbiased" choices is foolish. 6/

Having more diverse scientists matters. If the people studying auditory neuroscience (& the people who fund it) were from diverse backgrounds, then more people studying what they are familiar with would lead to more general theories of how auditory processing works. 7/

I'm NOT claiming we need black scientists only so they can study black things. Instead, by having more of us in the room, the assumptions and biases held in scientific fields are more likely to be checked and will therefore get us closer to general theories of neuroscience. end/