Living in Historically Redlined Neighborhoods and the Cognitive Function of Black and White Adults.

OBJECTIVES: We determined if living in historically redlined neighborhoods was associated with level and change in cognitive functioning and if this association differed for Black and White older adults.

METHODS: We linked the Health and Retirement Study 1998-2018 data to redlining scores from the Historic Redlining Indicator data. Our sample included adults aged 50 years and older (24,230 respondents, 129,618 person-period observations). Using three-level linear mixed models, we estimated the relationship between living in historically redlined neighborhoods on level and change in cognitive functioning for pooled and race-stratified samples.

RESULTS: Residents of historically redlined "Declining" and "Hazardous" neighborhoods had lower cognitive functioning scores compared to residents of "Best/Desirable" neighborhoods. Among Black adults, living in "Hazardous" neighborhoods was associated with slower declines in cognitive functioning compared to living in "Best/Desirable" neighborhoods.

DISCUSSION: Historical redlining is associated with older adults' cognitive functioning, underscoring the importance of sociohistorical context for the neighborhood-cognition relationship.