Neuroticism, extraversion, and motor function in community-dwelling older persons

Correlates of Person-Specific Rates of Change in Sensor-Derived Physical Activity Metrics of Daily Living in the Rush Memory and Aging Project

This study characterized person-specific rates of change of total daily physical activity (TDPA) and identified correlates of this change. TDPA metrics were extracted from multiday wrist-sensor recordings from 1083 older adults (average age 81 years; 76% female). Thirty-two covariates were collected at baseline. A series of linear mixed-effect models were used to identify covariates independently associated with the level and annual rate of change of TDPA. Though, person-specific rates of change varied during a mean follow-up of 5 years, 1079 of 1083 showed declining TDPA. The average decline was 16%/year, with a 4% increased rate of decline for every 10 years of age older at baseline. Following variable selection using multivariate modeling with forward and then backward elimination, age, sex, education, and 3 of 27 non-demographic covariates including motor abilities, a fractal metric, and IADL disability remained significantly associated with declining TDPA accounting for 21% of its variance (9% non-demographic and 12% demographics covariates). These results show that declining TDPA occurs in many very old adults. Few covariates remained correlated with this decline and the majority of its variance remained unexplained. Further work is needed to elucidate the biology underlying TDPA and to identify other factors that account for its decline.

Association of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Pathologies With Scam Susceptibility in Older Adults

Importance

Scam susceptibility is associated with adverse financial and health outcomes, including an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Very little is known about the role of cerebrovascular pathologies with scam susceptibility.

Objective

To examine the association of diverse cerebrovascular pathologies (globally and regionally) with scam susceptibility.

Design, setting, and Participants

This clinical-pathological cohort study included participants from 2 ongoing studies of aging that began enrollment in 1994 and 1997. In 2010, participants were enrolled in the decision-making and behavioral economics substudy and were followed up for a mean (SD) of 3.4 (2.6) years prior to death. From 1365 older persons with clinical evaluations, 69 were excluded for having dementia at baseline. From 538 older persons who died, 408 had annual assessments for scam susceptibility, cardiovascular risk burden, and cognitive function and consented to brain donation for detailed neuropathologic examination. Data were analyzed from June 2021 through September 2022.

Exposures

Neuropathologic examination identified the presence of macroscopic and microscopic infarcts, atherosclerosis, arteriolosclerosis, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and common neurodegenerative pathologies (Alzheimer disease, limbic-predominant age-related transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 encephalopathy, and Lewy bodies).

Results

There was a total of 408 participants. The mean (SD) age at death was 91 (6.1) years, the mean (SD) amount of education was 15.6 (3.1) years, and 297 (73%) were women. Participants included 4 Latino individuals (1%), 7 non-Latino Black individuals (2%), and 397 non-Latino White individuals (97%). The frequency of participants with macroscopic infarcts was 38% (n = 154), microinfarcts was 40% (n = 163), and moderate to severe vessel disease; specifically, atherosclerosis was 20% (n = 83), arteriolosclerosis was 25% (n = 100), and cerebral amyloid angiopathy was 35% (n = 143). In linear regression models adjusted for demographics and neurodegenerative pathologies, macroscopic infarcts were associated with greater scam susceptibility (estimate [SE], 0.18 [0.07]; P = .009). This association persisted after adjusting for cardiovascular risk burden and global cognition. Regionally, infarcts localized to the frontal, temporal, and occipital lobes and thalamus were associated with greater scam susceptibility. Neither arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, nor microinfarcts were associated with scam susceptibility.

Conclusions and Relevance

Cerebrovascular pathologies, specifically cerebral infarcts, is linked with greater scam susceptibility in older adults, independent of common neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer disease. Future studies examining in vivo magnetic resonance imaging markers of cerebrovascular pathologies with scam susceptibility and related decision-making outcomes will be important.

Cognitive, psychological and social factors associated with older adults' mobility: a scoping review of self-report and performance-based measures

Although many factors have been associated with mobility among older adults, there is paucity of research that explores the complexity of factors that influence mobility. This review aims to synthesise the available evidence for factors comprising the cognitive, psychological, and social mobility determinants and their associations with mobility self-reported and performance-based outcomes in older adults (60 years). We followed Arksey and O'Malley's five stages of a scoping review and searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsychINFO, Web of Science, AgeLine, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature and Sociological Abstract databases. Reviewers in pairs independently conducted title, abstract, full-text screening and data extraction. We reported associations by analyses rather than articles because articles reported multiple associations for factors and several mobility outcomes. Associations were categorised as significantly positive, negative, or not significant. We included 183 peer-reviewed articles published in 27 countries, most of which were cross-sectional studies and conducted among community-dwelling older adults. The 183 articles reported 630 analyses, of which 381 (60.5%) were significantly associated with mobility outcomes in the expected direction. For example, older adults with higher cognitive functioning such as better executive functioning had better mobility outcomes (e.g., faster gait speed), and those with poor psychological outcomes, such as depressive symptoms, or social outcomes such as reduced social network, had poorer mobility outcomes (e.g., slower gait speed) compared to their counterparts. Studies exploring the association between cognitive factors, personality (a psychological factor) and self-reported mobility outcomes (e.g., walking for transportation or driving), and social factors and performance-based mobility outcomes in older adults are limited. Understanding the additive relationships between cognitive, psychological, and social factors highlights the complexity of older adults' mobility across different forms of mobility, including independence, use of assistive devices, transportation, and driving.

Relationship between personality and physical capacities in older adults: The mediating role of subjective age, aging attitudes and physical self-perceptions

Walking speed and muscular strength are two main markers of health in adulthood. Previous studies have shown that personality traits may predict these two outcomes. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying these relationships. Thus, the present study examined whether personality traits are associated with walking speed and muscular strength through the mediating role of subjective age (how young or old individuals experience themselves to be), attitudes toward aging and physical self-perceptions. Community-dwelling older women (N = 243; M_age = 73.0; SD_age = 6.5) were recruited. For reasons of recruitment feasibility, participants were only older women. They were requested to complete a questionnaire measuring personality, subjective age, attitudes toward aging and physical self-perceptions. Following this, their walking speed and their muscular strength were investigated. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. In line with the literature, we extended the associations between extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness and walking speed and between conscientiousness, neuroticism, openness and muscular strength. Physical self-perceptions appear to be a robust mediator between personality traits and walking speed whereas attitudes toward aging and subjective age mediated the personality traits/muscular strength relationship. This study provides evidence, for the first time, that the associations between personality traits and physical capacities are different according to the physical capacities investigated. Based on these results, it could be interesting to adapt physical activity interventions to the psychological profile of older adults.

Neuroticism alters the transcriptome of the frontal cortex to contribute to the cognitive decline and onset of Alzheimer's disease

Accumulating evidence has suggested that the molecular transcriptional mechanism contributes to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its endophenotypes of cognitive decline and neuropathological traits, β-amyloid (Aβ) and phosphorylated tangles (TAU). However, it is unknown what is the impact of the AD risk factors, personality characteristics assessed by the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, on the human brain's transcriptome. Using postmortem human brain samples from 466 subjects, we found that neuroticism has a significant overall impact on the brain transcriptome (omnibus P = 0.005) but not the other four personality characteristics. Focused on those cognitive decline related gene co-expressed modules, neuroticism has nominally significant associations (P < 0.05) with four neuronal modules, which are more related to PHFtau than Aβ across all eight brain regions. Furthermore, the effect of neuroticism on cognitive decline and AD might be mediated through the expression of module 7 and TAU pathology (P = 0.008). To conclude, neuroticism has a broad impact on the transcriptome of human brains, and its effect on cognitive decline and AD may be mediated through gene transcription programs related to TAU pathology.

Associations between Brief Resilience Scale scores and ageing-related domains in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936

[Correction Notice: An Erratum for this article was reported online in Psychology and Aging on Mar 5 2020 (see record 2020-16850-001). This article should have been published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0). Therefore, the article was amended to list the authors as copyright holders, and information about the terms of the CC BY 3.0 was added to the author note. In addition, the article is now open access. All versions of this article have been corrected.] It is unclear how scores on self-report resilience scales relate to key ageing-related domains in older age and if they truly measure resilience. We examined antecedents and outcomes of age-76 Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) scores in participants of the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 (n = 655). We found bivariate associations between age-76 BRS scores and ageing-relevant antecedent variables measured at least 3 years earlier, from domains of cognitive ability, physical fitness, and wellbeing and, additionally, sociodemographics and personality (absolute r's from .082 to .49). Biological health variables were not associated with BRS scores. Age-73 cognitive ability (largest β = 0.14), physical fitness (largest β = 0.084), and wellbeing variables (largest β = 0.26) made positive independent contributions to age-76 BRS scores in multivariate models. In a conservative model including all variables as covariates, corrected for multiple comparisons, only emotional stability (neuroticism) significantly independently contributed to BRS score (β = 0.33). An exploratory backward elimination model indicated more wellbeing and personality associates of BRS scores (βs from .087 to .32). We used latent difference score modeling to assess outcomes of BRS scores; we examined associations between age-76 BRS and change in latent factors of age-related domains between age 76 and 79. Whereas BRS scores were related cross-sectionally to levels of latent cognitive ability (r = .19), physical fitness (r = .20), and wellbeing (r = .60) factors, they were not related to declines in these domains. The independence of the BRS construct from established wellbeing and personality factors is unclear. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Personality and Risk of Frailty: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Background

There is evidence that the personality traits conscientiousness, extraversion and neuroticism are associated with health behaviours and with risk of various health outcomes. We hypothesised that people who are lower in conscientiousness or extraversion or higher in neuroticism may be at greater risk of frailty in later life.

Methods

We used general linear models to examine the prospective relation between personality, assessed using the Midlife Development Inventory, and change in frailty, modelled by a frailty index, in 5314 men and women aged 60 to over 90 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Results

Men and women with higher levels of neuroticism or lower levels of extraversion or conscientiousness had an increased frailty index score at follow-up. After adjustment for potential confounding or mediating variables, including frailty index score at baseline, the frailty index score at follow-up—which potentially ranges from 0 to 1—was higher by 0.035 (95 % confidence interval 0.018, 0.052) for a standard deviation increase in neuroticism and lower by 0.061 (0.031, 0.091) or 0.045 (0.020, 0.071) for a standard deviation increase in extraversion or conscientiousness, respectively. There was some evidence that the association between extraversion and frailty may be due to reverse causation whereby poorer health affected responses to items in the personality inventory.

Conclusions

Higher levels of neuroticism or lower levels of conscientiousness or extraversion may be risk factors for the onset or progression of frailty. Future studies need to replicate these observations in other populations and explore the mechanisms underlying these associations.

The role of gender in the association between personality and task priority in older adults' dual-tasking while walking

BACKGROUND

Falls are a major problem for older adults. Many falls occur when a person's attention is divided between two tasks, such as a dual task (DT) involving walking. Most recently, the role of personality in walking performance was addressed; however, its association with DT performance remains to be determined.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study of 73 older, community-dwelling adults explores the association between personality and DT walking and the role of gender in this relationship. Personality was evaluated using the five-factor model. Single-task (ST) and DT assessment of walking-cognitive DT performance comprised a 1-min walking task and an arithmetic task performed separately (ST) and concurrently (DT). Dual-task costs (DTCs), reflecting the proportional difference between ST and DT performance, were also calculated.

RESULTS

Gender plays a role in the relationship between personality and DT. Extraversion was negatively associated with DTC-motor for men (ΔR² = 0.06, p < 0.05). Conscientiousness was positively associated with DTC-cognition for women (ΔR² = 0.08, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

These findings may lead to effective personality-based early detection and intervention for fall prevention.

Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project

BACKGROUND

The Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project are both ongoing longitudinal clinical-pathologic cohort studies of aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

OBJECTIVES

To summarize progress over the past five years and its implications for understanding neurodegenerative diseases.

METHODS

Participants in both studies are older adults who enroll without dementia and agree to detailed longitudinal clinical evaluations and organ donation. The last review summarized findings through the end of 2011. Here we summarize progress and study findings over the past five years and discuss new directions for how these studies can inform on aging and AD in the future.

RESULTS

We summarize 1) findings on the relation of neurobiology to clinical AD; 2) neurobiologic pathways linking risk factors to clinical AD; 3) non-cognitive AD phenotypes including motor function and decision making; 4) the development of a novel drug discovery platform.

CONCLUSION

Complexity at multiple levels needs to be understood and overcome to develop effective treatments and preventions for cognitive decline and AD dementia.

Sleep fragmentation and Parkinson's disease pathology in older adults without Parkinson's disease

INTRODUCTION

Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) frequently experience disrupted sleep, and several sleep abnormalities are associated with an increased risk of incident PD. However, there are few data concerning the relationship between objectively quantified sleep disruption and the cardinal histopathological features of PD, especially in individuals without clinical PD.

METHODS

We studied 269 older adults without PD who had participated in the Rush Memory and Aging Project and undergone uniform structured neuropathologic evaluations upon death. Sleep fragmentation was measured using actigraphy. Logistic regression models examined the associations of sleep fragmentation proximate to death with the burden of Lewy body pathology and substantia nigra neuron loss.

RESULTS

Greater sleep fragmentation was associated with the presence of Lewy body pathology (odds ratio 1.40; 95% confidence interval 1.05-1.86; P = .02) and substantia nigra neuron loss (odds ratio 1.43; 95% confidence interval 1.10-1.88; P = .008) and a higher odds of a pathological diagnosis of PD (odds ratio 2.04; 95% confidence interval 1.34-3.16; P = .0009). These associations were independent of motor features of parkinsonism, demographic characteristics, and a wide range of medical co-morbidities.

CONCLUSIONS

Sleep fragmentation is associated with PD pathology in older adults without PD. These results suggest that sleep fragmentation may be a marker of or risk factor for PD pathology in older adults without PD. © 2017 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Personality and Walking Speed Across Adulthood

Walking speed is one marker of health in adulthood. Although personality may contribute to gait speed, there is limited longitudinal data on this association. Thus, the present study examined whether personality traits are prospectively associated with walking speed among middle aged and older adults. Participants were adults aged from 25 to 100 years old ( N > 15,000) drawn from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study Graduate and Sibling samples, the Midlife in the United States Survey, the Health and Retirement Study, and the National Health and Aging Trends Survey. Across most samples and in a meta-analysis, lower neuroticism and higher extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness at baseline were prospectively related to faster gait speed. In the HRS, lower neuroticism and higher extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness were related to slower gait speed decline. This study provides robust evidence that walking speed in adulthood reflects, in part, the individual’s personality.

Personality and actigraphy-measured physical activity in older adults

Most studies on personality and physical activity have relied on self-report measures. This study examined the relation between Five Factor Model personality traits and objective physical activity in older adults. Sixty-nine participants (Mage = 80.2 years; SD = 7.1) wore the ActiGraph monitor for 7 days and completed the NEO Personality Inventory-3 First Half. Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were associated with more moderate physical activity and more steps per day whereas Neuroticism was inversely related to these physical activity measures (βs > .20). The associations for Neuroticism and Conscientiousness were attenuated by approximately 20-40% when accounting for disease burden and body mass index but were essentially unchanged for Extraversion and Agreeableness. These findings confirm self-report evidence that personality traits are associated with physical activity levels in older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record

Personality and Frailty: Evidence From Four Samples

Frailty is a prevalent geriatric syndrome. Little is known about the psychological factors associated with this syndrome. Based on four large samples of older adults aged from 65 to 104 years old, the present study examined whether personality traits are related to frailty. High neuroticism, low conscientiousness, low extraversion, low openness and low agreeableness were related to higher frailty across samples. Longitudinal analysis conducted in one sample revealed that high neuroticism was associated with worsening frailty over an 8-year period. Higher frailty at baseline and over time was related to maladaptive personality changes. This study extends existing knowledge on the link between personality and health in older adults, by identifying the personality traits associated with frailty, a complex geriatric syndrome.

Harm avoidance is associated with progression of parkinsonism in community-dwelling older adults: a prospective cohort study

Background

We tested the hypothesis that harm avoidance, a trait associated with behavioral inhibition, is associated with the rate of change in parkinsonism in older adults.

Methods

At baseline harm avoidance was assessed with a standard self-report instrument in 969 older people without dementia participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal community-based cohort study. Parkinsonism was assessed annually with a modified version of the motor section of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (mUPDRS).

Results

Average follow-up was 5 years. A linear mixed-effects model controlling for age, sex and education showed that for an average participant (female, 80 years old at baseline, with 14 years of education and a harm avoidance score of 10), the overall severity of parkinsonism increased by about 0.05 unit/ year (Estimate, 0.054, S.E., 0.007, p <0.001) and that the level of harm avoidance was associated with the progression of parkinsonism (Estimate, 0.004, S.E., 0.001, p <0.001). Thus, for an average participant, every 6 point (~1 SD) increase in harm avoidance score at baseline, the rate of progression of parkinsonism increased about 50% compared to an individual with an average harm avoidance score. This amount of change in parkinsonism over the course of the study was associated with about a 5% increased risk of death. The association between harm avoidance and progression of parkinsonism persisted when controlling for cognitive function, depressive symptoms, loneliness, neuroticism, late-life cognitive, social and physical activities and chronic health conditions.

Conclusion

A higher level of the harm avoidance trait is associated with a more rapid progression of parkinsonism in older adults.

Association between dopamine D4 receptor polymorphism and age related changes in brain glucose metabolism

Aging is associated with reductions in brain glucose metabolism in some cortical and subcortical regions, but the rate of decrease varies significantly between individuals, likely reflecting genetic and environmental factors and their interactions. Here we test the hypothesis that the variant of the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4) gene (VNTR in exon 3), which has been associated with novelty seeking and sensitivity to environmental stimuli (negative and positive) including the beneficial effects of physical activity on longevity, influence the effects of aging on the human brain. We used positron emission tomography (PET) and [(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose ((18)FDG) to measure brain glucose metabolism (marker of brain function) under baseline conditions (no stimulation) in 82 healthy individuals (age range 22-55 years). We determined their DRD4 genotype and found an interaction with age: individuals who did not carry the 7-repeat allele (7R-, n = 53) had a significant (p<0.0001) negative association between age and relative glucose metabolism (normalized to whole brain glucose metabolism) in frontal (r = -0.52), temporal (r = -0.51) and striatal regions (r = -0.47, p<0.001); such that older individuals had lower metabolism than younger ones. In contrast, for carriers of the 7R allele (7R+ n = 29), these correlations with age were not significant and they only showed a positive association with cerebellar glucose metabolism (r = +0.55; p = 0.002). Regression slopes of regional brain glucose metabolism with age differed significantly between the 7R+ and 7R- groups in cerebellum, inferior temporal cortex and striatum. These results provide evidence that the DRD4 genotype might modulate the associations between regional brain glucose metabolism and age and that the carriers of the 7R allele appear to be less sensitive to the effects of age on brain glucose metabolism.

Personality, metabolic rate and aerobic capacity

Personality traits and cardiorespiratory fitness in older adults are reliable predictors of health and longevity. We examined the association between personality traits and energy expenditure at rest (basal metabolic rate) and during normal and maximal sustained walking. Personality traits and oxygen (VO(2)) consumption were assessed in 642 participants from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. Results indicate that personality traits were mostly unrelated to resting metabolic rate and energy expenditure at normal walking pace. However, those who scored lower on neuroticism (r = -0.12) and higher on extraversion (r = 0.11), openness (r = 0.13), and conscientiousness (r = 0.09) had significantly higher energy expenditure at peak walking pace. In addition to greater aerobic capacity, individuals with a more resilient personality profile walked faster and were more efficient in that they required less energy per meter walked. The associations between personality and energy expenditure were not moderated by age or sex, but were in part explained by the proportion of fat mass. In conclusion, differences in personality may matter the most during more challenging activities that require cardiorespiratory fitness. These findings suggest potential pathways that link personality to health outcomes, such as obesity and longevity.

Overview and findings from the rush Memory and Aging Project

The Memory and Aging Project is a longitudinal, epidemiologic clinical-pathologic cohort study of common chronic conditions of aging with an emphasis on decline in cognitive and motor function and risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this manuscript, we first summarize the study design and methods. Then, we present data on: (1) the relation of motor function to cognition, disability, and death; (2) the relation of risk factors to cognitive and motor outcomes, disability and death; (3) the relation of neuropathologic indices to cognitive outcomes; (4) the relation of risk factors to neuropathologic indices; and (5) additional study findings. The findings are discussed and contextualized.