Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jun 23;12(1):e12038.
doi: 10.1002/dad2.12038. eCollection 2020.

Relationships between big-five personality factors and Alzheimer's disease pathology in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease

Andrew J Aschenbrenner  1 , Jennifer Petros  1 , Eric McDade  1 , Guoqiao Wang  2 , David A Balota  3 , Tammie Ls Benzinger  1   4 , Carlos Cruchaga  1   5 , Alison Goate  6 , Chengjie Xiong  1   2 , Richard Perrin  7 , Anne M Fagan  1 , Neill Graff-Radford  8 , Bernardino Ghetti  9 , Johannes Levin  10   11 , Endy Weidinger  10   11 , Peter Schofield  12   13 , Susanne Gräber  14 , Jae-Hong Lee  15 , Jasmeer P Chhatwal  16 , John C Morris  1 , Randall Bateman  1 , Jason Hassenstab  1   3 ; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network
Affiliations

Relationships between big-five personality factors and Alzheimer's disease pathology in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease

Andrew J Aschenbrenner et al. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). .

Abstract

Introduction: Changes in personality characteristics are associated with the onset of symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and may even precede clinical diagnosis. However, personality changes caused by disease progression can be difficult to separate from changes that occur with normal aging. The Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) provides a unique cohort in which to relate measures of personality traits to in vivo markers of disease in a much younger sample than in typical late onset AD.

Methods: Personality traits measured with the International Personality Item Pool at baseline from DIAN participants were analyzed as a function of estimated years to onset of clinical symptoms and well-established AD biomarkers.

Results: Both neuroticism and conscientiousness were correlated with years to symptom onset and markers of tau pathology in the cerebrospinal fluid. Self-reported conscientiousness and both neuroticism and conscientiousness ratings from a collateral source were correlated with longitudinal rates of cognitive decline such that participants who were rated as higher on neuroticism and lower on conscientiousness exhibited accelerated rates of cognitive decline.

Discussion: Personality traits are correlated with the accumulation of AD pathology and time to symptom onset, suggesting that AD progression can influence an individual's personality characteristics. Together these findings suggest that measuring neuroticism and conscientiousness may hold utility in tracking disease progression in AD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Alison Goate served on the scientific advisory board for Denali Therapeutics from 2015 to 2018. She has also served as a consultant for Biogen, AbbVie, Pfizer, GSK, Eisai, and Illumina. Dr. Benzinger reports grants, non‐financial support, and clinical trial participation involving Avid Radiopharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly. She serves as an investigator in clinical trials sponsored by Roche, Biogen, Jaansen, and Eisai. She reports unpaid consulting: Siemens, Eisai, ADMDx. She is on the Biogen speakers’ bureau. All of this is outside the scope of the current manuscript. Dr. Neil Graff‐Radford takes part in multicenter treatment trials funded by Novartis, AbbVie, Biogen, and Lilly. Dr. JC Morris is funded by NIH grants # P50AG005681, P01AG003991, P01AG026276, and UF1AG032438. Neither Dr. Morris nor his family owns stock or has equity interest (outside of mutual funds or other externally directed accounts) in any pharmaceutical or biotechnology company. No other conflicts are reported.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Personality traits as a function of estimated years to symptom onset (EYO) and mutation status (mutation carriers N = 304 for self‐report; 293 for informant report; non‐carriers N = 192 for self‐report, 186 for informant). Significant group by EYO interactions were found for all variables except for informant reported conscientiousness
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Higher levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tau correlate with higher levels of self‐reported neuroticism at baseline in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD) mutation carriers (N = 257, P = .03) and lower levels of self‐reported conscientiousness (P = .02)
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Correlation between baseline self‐reported neuroticism and conscientiousness (N = 304) on rate of change in a global cognitive composite in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD) mutation carriers. Lower levels of conscientiouness correspond to faster rates of decline (P = .03). The relationship between cognitive decline and neuroticism was not significant
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bateman RJ, Xiong C, Benzinger TL, et al, others . Clinical and biomarker changes in Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's disease. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(9):795‐804. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jack CR, Knopman DS, Jagust WJ, et al. Tracking pathophysiological processes in Alzheimer's disease: an updated hypothetical model of dynamic biomarkers. Lancet Neurol. 2013;12(2):207‐216. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Price JL, McKeel DW, Buckles VD, et al. Neuropathology of nondemented aging: presumptive evidence for preclinical Alzheimer disease. Neurobiol Aging. 2009;30(7):1026‐1036. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Stern Y. Cognitive reserve in ageing and Alzheimer's disease. Lancet Neurol. 2012;11(11):1006‐1012. 10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70191-6. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. McCrae RR, John OP. An introduction to the five‐factor model and its applications. J Pers. 1992;60(2):175‐215. - PubMed