Intersectionality of Racial and Socioeconomic Inequalities from a Neuropsychological Perspective: Interview with the Neuropsychology Working Group Brazilian Federal Council of Psychology

Abstract

This article discusses how structural racism and multidimensional poverty affect human development from a critical neuropsychological perspective. Poverty is understood not merely as financial deprivation but as a complex phenomenon involving multiple forms of social exclusion, including lack of access to healthcare, education, housing, and sanitation. These adverse conditions directly affect cognitive and emotional development, particularly in childhood, by compromising caregivers’ mental health and the quality of parenting. Racism is addressed as a chronic stressor with neurobiological effects - such as prolonged HPA axis activation, elevated cortisol levels, and alterations in brain structures responsible for emotional regulation and memory processing. In contrast to the reductionist stance of mainstream neuropsychology, the authors advocate for a dialectical framework in which the psyche emerges from the co-genesis of brain function and sociocultural context. The interview with members of the Neuropsychology Working Group of the Brazilian Federal Council of Psychology highlights the limitations of the biomedical model and outlines pathways toward a critical, anti-racist, and socially engaged neuropsychology. The authors argue for the inclusion of race, class, gender, disability, and territory as structural dimensions of subjectivity and stress the urgent need for neuropsychological training grounded in racial literacy and cultural competence.

Keywords:
Racism; Poverty; Neuropsychology; Human Development