How sleep training can rid your brain of sexism and racism

Study appears to show that sleeping 'provides a unique window for altering fundamental beliefs'

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(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Innermost prejudices about race and gender can be eliminated using "sleep training", according to scientists in Illinois.

A study carried out at Northwestern University found that biases can be altered during sleep. It did not target overt sexism or racism, but rather implicit biases arising from long-term socialisation and frequently reinforced by mass media. For example, previous research has shown that 80 per cent of people have a bias against the elderly and that people often have a preference for white faces over black faces.

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