Neuroticism and openness impact predementia risk
16 June, 2020
A study discovered that while neuroticism escalates the likelihood of slight cognitive impairment syndrome, openness reduces it.
Psychologists often concentrate on five characteristics - called the “Big Five” - to spell it out personality. These are: openness to see, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Known simply by the acronym “OCEAN,” psychologists and researchers examine these traits to signify core personality characteristics.
Now, a workforce of neurologists from the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in NEW YORK has investigated the degree to which they may or might not exactly be connected with predementia syndromes.
The researchers discovered that neuroticism increases the threat of nonamnesic slight cognitive impairment by 6%. Openness gets the opposite result, reducing the chance by 6%.
The analysis appears in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Personality and predementia syndromes
The study viewed the result of personality on two syndromes that authorities consider potential precursors to dementia. The first is motoric cognitive risk (MCR) syndrome, and the second reason is mild cognitive impairment (MCI) syndrome.
A person with MCR will have a reported slight cognitive decline and either an objectively measured sluggish walking rate or an increased time in a five-times-sit-to-stand (FTSS) test, though some researchers question the utilization of the latter marker.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, about 15-20% of folks aged 65 and elderly contain MCI. The association defines the syndrome as “hook but noticeable and measurable decline in cognitive capabilities, including memory and thinking skills.”
There are two types of MCI: aMCI, which involves some extent of amnesia, and naMCI, which will not.
The current study isn't the first ever to examine the associations between your Big Five personality traits and cognition.
On the other hand, the study’s authors were thinking about the clarification of before, sometimes inconsistent, research results.
They remember that research has previously tied lower degrees of openness to MCI and Alzheimer’s and associated cognitive decline with neuroticism and conscientiousness.
The inconsistent research also contains some studies that link lower degrees of agreeableness to dementia and others that usually do not.
The study design
The study analyzed data from adults aged 65 and older who were participating in the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Central Control of Flexibility in Aging (CCMA) study.
People from New York’s Westchester County who exactly had voted in community or national elections in the last few years received a great invitation to take part in the CCMA analysis. Researchers subsequently screened the applicants for eligibility.
In-person visits occurred at the study center at Montefiore Medical Center in NEW YORK. Each participant underwent thorough cognitive, psychological, and flexibility assessments.
The team followed the participants at yearly intervals during the period of the study, from June 2011 to August 2018.
In the beginning of the study, these individuals completed the Big Five Inventory (BFI), a self-reporting questionnaire that identifies personality traits. They also completed exams for cognitive function.
Of the 588 probable participants, 12 did not complete the BFI, 26 lacked complete cognitive test data, and 9 were found to have dementia. Of the remaining 541 individuals, 58 had MCI, 22 had MCR, and 17 acquired both MCI and MCR. The individuals who acquired both MCI and MCR had been ineligible for the analysis.
During the period of the research, 38 participants developed MCR, and 69 developed MCI: 28 aMCI and 41 naMCI.
In the ultimate analysis, the researchers didn't use data from those that developed predementia significantly less than 2 years in to the study.
‘Evidence of a definite relationship’
The study data confirmed the previously reported association of neuroticism with the expansion of naMCI, however, not that of aMCI or MCR. In addition, openness reduced the probability of naMCI.
“These findings provide proof a definite relationship between personality characteristics and development of certain predementia syndromes,” the analysis authors write.
The authors frame neuroticism and openness as problem and solution, respectively:
“These findings are constant with previous analyses that indicated neuroticism is a risk factor for cognitive impairment, and openness offers a protective effect against cognitive impairment.”
- Study authors
So far as the various other personality traits go, all connections are less sharp. The authors advise two possible reasons for the continuing unclarity.
First, “specific personality characteristics are connected with decline, specifically, cognitive domains linked to discrete predementia syndromes.” It is possible that personality traits that the individuals self-reported happen to be themselves the consequence of aging.
BFIs that the same persons completed at a youthful age may well not need produced the same persona profile.
If that is so, “personality characteristics [may be seen more as] markers of decline in particular regions of cognitive function and could reflect distinct biological pathways in the changeover from normal cognition to specific predementia syndromes.”
Second, it's possible that the reported individuality traits are people’ adaptations to the loss of cognitive function. The study’s results may consequently “indicate that personality is important in changeover to predementia syndromes.”
As this research looks at the changeover to predementia, these traits might not exactly affect the transition from predementia to dementia.
“Studies found in younger cohorts with a bit longer follow-up are had a need to further explore these issues,” conclude the authors.
Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com