Early-life Exposure to Malaria Eradication and Later-life Cognition: Evidence from India

This paper examines the effects of early-life malaria exposure on later-life cognition in a sample of Indian mid-aged and older adults, using a nationwide eradication program and geographic variation in pre-eradication malaria endemicity. Difference-in-difference estimates suggest that the program was associated with an increase of 0.3 standard deviation in a measure of episodic memory for both men and women, and a similar increase in a measure of retrieval/fluency for women. No positive treatment effects were found for the cognitive domain of attention and working memory.