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ABSTRACT: Objectives
The present study explored relationships among personality, Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers, and dementia by addressing the following questions: (1) Does personality discriminate healthy aging and earliest detectable stage of AD? (2) Does personality predict conversion from healthy aging to early-stage AD? (3) Do AD biomarkers mediate any observed relationships between personality and dementia status/conversion?Methods
Both self- and informant ratings of personality were obtained in a large well-characterized longitudinal sample of cognitively normal older adults (N = 436) and individuals with early-stage dementia (N = 74). Biomarkers included amyloid imaging, hippocampal volume, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42, and CSF tau.Results
Higher neuroticism, lower conscientiousness, along with all four biomarkers strongly discriminated cognitively normal controls from early-stage AD individuals. The direct effects of neuroticism and conscientiousness were only mediated by hippocampal volume. Conscientiousness along with all biomarkers predicted conversion from healthy aging to early-stage AD; however, none of the biomarkers mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and conversion. Conscientiousness predicted conversion as strongly as the biomarkers, with the exception of hippocampal volume.Conclusions
Conscientiousness and to a lesser extent neuroticism serve as important independent behavioral markers for AD risk.
SUBMITTER: Duchek JM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7286789 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Duchek Janet M JM Aschenbrenner Andrew J AJ Fagan Anne M AM Benzinger Tammie L S TLS Morris John C JC Balota David A DA
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS 20191211 6
<h4>Objectives</h4>The present study explored relationships among personality, Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers, and dementia by addressing the following questions: (1) Does personality discriminate healthy aging and earliest detectable stage of AD? (2) Does personality predict conversion from healthy aging to early-stage AD? (3) Do AD biomarkers mediate any observed relationships between personality and dementia status/conversion?<h4>Methods</h4>Both self- and informant ratings of personalit ...[more]