Does Personality Predict Dementia?

 

Personality may influence whether someone developes dementia. Dementia is a broad category of conditions that result in cognitive decline that interferes with daily functioning and independence including memory loss, decision-making, and mobility. Although well-meaning friends and family try to lay diagnose, dementia requires a medical team for diagnosis. Medications may help manage problem behaviors and manage symptoms. As I have stated in this blog, the majority of dementias are preventable, treatable, and reversible. YOU control how you age and that includes avoiding cognitive decline, in most cases.

Psychologists Robert McCrae and Paul Costa developed the Five-Factor Personality Types in the 1980’s as an extension of personality trait theory to describe and categorize temperament or how people behave and approach life in general. The five personality types are easy to remember using the acronym CANOE or OCEAN:

Openness            curious -vs- cautious

Conscientious      organized/disciplined -vs- disorganized/undisciplined

Extrovert             outgoing -vs- solitary

Agreeable            compassionate/friendly -vs- judgmental/critical

Neurotic              negative affect/emotional/reactive -vs- positive

affect/confident/resilient       

A recent meta-analysis study conducted by Emorie Beck and scientists at the University of California, Davis, (2024) analyzed data from eight scientific studies that had a combined 44,531 participants to determine if personality traits predict dementia. Although there have been previous studies examining this correlation, Beck and his colleagues conducted the first large-scale meta-analysis of the research. Of the participants studied, 1703 developed dementia.

Protective factors included Conscientiousness (organized/disciplined), Extraversion (outgoing), and Positive Affect (see Neurotic above). They found that Conscientiousness is a protective factor in people with advanced age. The Beck et al. (2024) study suggests that people who had high Conscientiousness scores were disciplined and therefore, more likely to eat well, exercise, and engage in behaviors that contribute to optimum health outcomes.  

I authored an article, Talking is GOOD for the Brain, and posted it here in my blog on March 28, 2024. The brain requires engagement and specifically, language, to keep firing. I wrote, “The brain requires language to stimulate neurocircuitry and neuropathways that keep the brain healthy, strong, and functioning at maximum capacity. Social isolation and disengagement lead to a type of mental stagnation.” It makes sense to me that a neurotic, disagreeable, introverted, and undisciplined person is at higher risk for dementia: People will avoid them and they will lack healthy relationships. Combine that with unhealthy sedentary behaviors and preventable chronic conditions, and the stage is set for developing dementia. Relationships count and this is why extroverts have an advantage over introverts. See my blog posting from October 12, 2022. “Cultivate Friends for Healthy Aging.” Older adults with friends have better aging outcomes than loners.

Beck and his colleagues were surprised to learn that pathology did not always match the cognitive performance tests. Some participants had “extensive pathology but little impairment on cognitive testing.” Apparently, these people were able to compensate and work around their memory impairments. Interesting to note that Dr. Snowdon’s study of nun’s brains had similar pathology findings: At autopsy, some nuns who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease showed no plaques and tangles, while some with full cognition were full of plaques and tangles. (See my blog posting from June 8, 2021.)

What does all this mean and how can I apply it to my life? Does this mean that an introverted sourpuss, curmudgeon, or grumbler will develop dementia? Not necessarily. These studies examining personality traits and dementia are “anecdotal” which means circumstantial and unproven. More scientific studies are required before scientists can make the claim that personality types predict developing dementia.

However, as a gerontological researcher and scientist, it makes sense to me that based on prior research on aging, extroverts with positive personality traits have the advantage.

Resources and References:

Beck, E.D., Yoneda, T., James, B.D., et al. (2024) Personality predictors of dementia diagnosis and neuropathological burden: An individual participant data meta-analysis. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, (20), 1497-1534.

 

Kabigting, F. J. (2021, June). The discovery and evolution of the Big Five of Personality Traits: A historical review. GNOSI: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Theory and Praxis (4). Issue 3. (Online): 83-99.

 

Najm, N. (2019). Big Five Traits: A critical review. Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business. (21). 159-186.

 

Snowdon, D.A. (2003). Healthy aging and dementia: findings from the Nun Study. Annals of Internal Medicine. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12965975/