Risk of violent crime may be associated with hippocampal‐dependent cognitive function in older African Americans

Research on Area Deprivation Index (ADI) suggests that the social environment and neighborhood stressors (e.g., violent crime risk) play a role in later‐life cognitive function. However, most of the research linking ADI and cognitive function has been conducted on non‐Hispanic white American samples. Further, while the ADI is useful in facilitating efficient integration of social determinants of health (SDOH) into models of cognitive aging, it does not take into account micro‐level measures of neighborhood stressors which may also affect cognitive function. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to determine whether violent crime risk contributes to later‐life cognitive function above and beyond ADI in older African Americans.