T he prevalence of cognitive impairment and dementia in ESRD is more than double that of the general population (1-3). However, the reasons for this high rate remain uncertain. Specifically, it is not known whether cognitive impairment is mediated by the direct effects of uremia, per se, or is attributable to a high prevalence of predisposing risk factors among individuals with ESRD and side effects of the hemodialysis treatment. Recent studies suggest that chronic kidney disease (CKD) may also be a risk factor for cognitive impairment (4 -6). Many of the factors that have been proposed as mediators of cognitive impairment in ESRD, such as anemia and inflammation, may be present in individuals with earlier stages of CKD (7,8).CKD has been associated with an increased risk for dementia in elderly individuals (4) and with poorer performance on tests of global cognitive function, executive function, language, and memory (5,6). However, previous studies were conducted in mostly white populations and did not explore several hypothesized mediators of impairment, such as anemia and inflammation. Moreover, no studies have examined the association between CKD and performance on serial cognitive function tests, and only one study stratified analyses by the severity of CKD (6). The goals of this study were to determine the strength of the association between CKD and cognitive function in a biracial cohort of community-dwelling elderly and to explore potential mediators of cognitive impairment and whether these extinguish or otherwise modify the association between CKD and cognitive impairment. We hypothesized that CKD would be associated with cognitive impairment in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses and that the association would be "dose (severity)-dependent" and independent of established risk factors for cognitive impairment, such as age, low educational attainment, diabetes, hypertension, and other cardiovascular disease risk factors.