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Updated: Dec 13, 2025
06:58
Highlighting and Reducing the Impact of Negative Aging Stereotypes During Older Adults' Cognitive Testing
Published on: January 24, 2020
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Everyday discrimination and subsequent cognitive abilities across five domains
Laura B Zahodne1, Emily P Morris1, Neika Sharifian1
1Department of Psychology, University of Michigan.
Neuropsychology
|August 4, 2020
Summary
Everyday discrimination negatively impacts cognitive aging, affecting memory, executive function, and processing speed. Mental and physical health issues partially explain these enduring effects.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Everyday discrimination is linked to cognitive decline.
- Existing research indicates potential impacts on episodic memory.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the specificity and durability of discrimination's effects on cognition.
- To explore the mediating roles of mental and physical health in these associations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 3,304 older adults in the Health and Retirement Study.
- Employed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and longitudinal mediation design.
- Assessed discrimination, depressive symptoms, and vascular diseases; analyzed cognitive domains including memory, executive function, and processing speed.
Main Results:
- Discrimination correlated with increased depressive symptoms and vascular diseases.
- Depressive symptoms mediated the negative impact of discrimination on all tested cognitive domains.
- Vascular diseases additionally mediated effects on processing speed, with direct effects remaining for executive functioning and visuoconstruction.
Conclusions:
- Everyday discrimination has broad and lasting effects on cognitive aging in older adults.
- Mental and physical health partially mediate these cognitive impacts.
- Further research is needed to identify additional mechanisms and moderators for intervention.
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