NeuroReal Series: Episode 3: The Salience Network and Why Bias Feels Like a Shortcut (But Isn't).
- Georgina Brown (hershe)
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Ever walked into a room and immediately clocked who you’d sit next to, who you’d avoid, and whether you were dressed appropriately? You didn’t overthink it. Your brain just knew.
Except it didn’t. It guessed. Fast.
Welcome to the Salience Network — the brain's in-house DJ for sorting what matters, what doesn't, and what might be a threat. It's efficient, emotional, and occasionally very, very wrong.
What Is the Salience Network?
The Salience Network is a brain circuit that helps you scan your environment and decide where to focus your attention. It's made up of regions like the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex, and it works closely with the amygdala and limbic system.
Its job? To:
Detect novel or emotionally significant stimuli
Decide what gets attention (and what doesn’t)
Switch between brain states (task mode vs. reflection)
In essence, it helps your brain prioritise. A rustling bush might be a tiger or a breeze. Either way, your salience network will decide what to do with it before your conscious brain even gets a word in.
Why the Salience Network Fuels Bias
Bias isn’t always conscious. Most of it is fast, instinctive, and emotional. And that’s because the salience network is doing what it was wired to do: notice difference and assign meaning.
But here’s the problem: it doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It’s trained by:
Your upbringing
Your experiences
Media and cultural narratives
Past emotional memories
So when your salience network detects a "difference" — someone’s accent, skin tone, body size, or visible disability — it flags it. Often with a threat signal. Even if you’re a lovely, well-meaning person who believes in equality.
This is where bias creeps in, not because you're a bad person, but because your neurobiology has been programmed by your social history.
From Shortcut to Slow-Path: What Inclusion Requires
Inclusion doesn’t happen on the brain’s autopilot. It requires the slow path. The pause. The reappraisal.
But first, we need to know what to interrupt.
The salience network is the early warning system. But without conscious input, it becomes a bias machine. That’s why inclusive cultures need practices that:
Build awareness of default reactions
Rewire what feels “safe” or “familiar”
Create space for reflection, not reaction
Three NeuroNudges to Rebalance Your Salience System
1. Pause Before Preference
Before choosing who speaks, who leads, or who gets airtime — pause. Ask: what drew my attention here? Was it familiarity or fairness?
2. Switch Up Exposure
Deliberately increase your exposure to difference. Not just passively, but actively — new books, colleagues, podcasts, perspectives. Your salience network updates its playlist with new input.
3. Name It to Tame It
When bias shows up, label it (privately or publicly, if safe). The act of naming activates the prefrontal cortex and calms the emotional brain. That’s inclusion in action.
What NIMM Does Differently
The NeuroInclusive Maturity Model (NIMM) helps organisations go beyond surface-level bias training. It builds in tools and rituals that:
Create low-threat learning spaces
Encourage reflective habits
Shift default neural pathways
This isn’t about catching people out. It’s about catching ourselves — and creating environments where rewiring is possible.
Final Word
Bias isn’t proof of failure. It’s a feature of the brain doing what it was built to do.
But here’s the good news: we can change the soundtrack. With awareness, repetition, and safety, we can teach our brains to notice differently.
That’s not just inclusion. That’s neuroplasticity with purpose.
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