"No, but where are you really from?" Experiences of perceived discrimination and identity development among Asian Indian adolescents

Asian Indians were the first South Asians to immigrate to the United States in the late 1800s and are currently the largest ethnic group of South Asians living in the United States. Despite this the literature on perceived ethnic and racial discrimination experiences among this group is relatively understudied. The documented experiences of Asian Indians who either recently immigrated from India or were born and raised in America pose an important question: what are the experiences of perceived discrimination among Asian Indians living in America, particularly among younger populations who are continuing to develop their racial and ethnic identities? The current study utilized phenomenological methodology to explore the experiences of nine Asian Indian American adolescents' (ages 12-17 years). Data were collected via semi-structured interviews to assess participants' experiences of ethnic and racial discrimination and identity development. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes and subthemes among the participants' responses. Asian Indian adolescents living in the United States report experiencing discrimination at a young age. It is also evident that Asian Indian youth experience significant challenges when developing their sense of ethnic and racial identity while living within the United States. Findings document the racial and ethnic discrimination that Asian Indian adolescents living in the United States may experience from a young age. Importantly, these discrimination experiences are occurring as Asian Indian adolescents are developing their racial and ethnic identities. This study provides insight for future research, which is necessary to fully understand the experiences of Asian Indian adolescents.

BDNF val66met polymorphism affects aging of multiple types of memory

The BDNF val66met polymorphism (rs6265) influences activity-dependent secretion of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the synapse, which is crucial for learning and memory. Individuals homozygous or heterozygous for the met allele have lower BDNF secretion than val homozygotes and may be at risk for reduced declarative memory performance, but it remains unclear which types of declarative memory may be affected and how aging of memory across the lifespan is impacted by the BDNF val66met polymorphism. This cross-sectional study investigated the effects of BDNF polymorphism on multiple indices of memory (item, associative, prospective, subjective complaints) in a lifespan sample of 116 healthy adults aged 20-93 years. Advancing age showed a negative effect on item, associative and prospective memory, but not on subjective memory complaints. For item and prospective memory, there were significant age×BDNF group interactions, indicating the adverse effect of age on memory performance across the lifespan was much stronger in the BDNF met carriers than for the val homozygotes. BDNF met carriers also endorsed significantly greater subjective memory complaints, regardless of age, and showed a trend (p<.07) toward poorer associative memory performance compared to val homozygotes. These results suggest that genetic predisposition to the availability of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, by way of the BDNF val66met polymorphism, exerts an influence on multiple indices of episodic memory - in some cases in all individuals regardless of age (subjective memory and perhaps associative memory), in others as an exacerbation of age-related differences in memory across the lifespan (item and prospective memory). This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Memory & Aging.