scholarly journals Personality and Incident Alzheimer’s Disease: Theory, Evidence, and Future Directions

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne C Segerstrom

Abstract Personality, especially the dimensions of neuroticism and conscientiousness, has prospectively predicted the risk of incident Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Such a relationship could be explained by personality and AD risk having a common cause such as a gene; by personality creating a predisposition for AD through health behavior or inflammation; by personality exerting a pathoplastic effect on the cognitive consequences of neuropathology; or by AD and personality change existing on a disease spectrum that begins up to decades before diagnosis. Using the 5-dimensional taxonomy of personality, the present review describes how these models might arise, the evidence for each, and how they might be distinguished from one another empirically. At present, the evidence is sparse but tends to suggest predisposition and/or pathoplastic relationships. Future studies using noninvasive assessment of neuropathology are needed to distinguish these 2 possibilities.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Chinonye A Maduagwuna ◽  

Study background: Chronic neuroinflammation is a common emerging hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia among the elderly and is characterized by loss of memory and other cognitive functions.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clemens Kruse ◽  
Britney Larson ◽  
Reagan Wilkinson ◽  
Roger Samson ◽  
Taylor Castillo

BACKGROUND Incidence of AD continues to increase, making it the most common cause of dementia and the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. 2018 numbers are expected to double by 2030. OBJECTIVE We examined the benefits of utilizing technology to identify and detect Alzheimer’s disease in the diagnostic process. METHODS We searched PubMed and CINAHL using key terms and filters to identify 30 articles for review. We analyzed these articles and reported them in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. RESULTS We identified 11 technologies used in the detection of Alzheimer’s disease: 66% of which used some form of MIR. Functional, structural, and 7T magnetic resonance imaging were all used with structural being the most prevalent. CONCLUSIONS MRI is the best form of current technology being used in the detection of Alzheimer’s disease. MRI is a noninvasive approach that provides highly accurate results in the diagnostic process of Alzheimer’s disease.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Danni Li ◽  
Lin Zhang ◽  
Nathaniel W. Nelson ◽  
Michelle M. Mielke ◽  
Fang Yu

Background: Utilities of blood-based biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) clinical trials remain unknown. Objective: To evaluate the ability of plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL) to predict future declines in cognition and activities of daily living (ADL) outcomes in 26 older adults with mild-to-moderate AD dementia from the FIT-AD Trial. Methods: Plasma NfL was measured at baseline and 3 and 6 months. Cognition and ADL were assessed using the AD Assessment Scale-Cognition (ADAS-Cog) and AD Uniform Dataset Instruments and Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD), respectively, at baseline, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Linear mixed effects models were used to examine the associations between baseline or change in plasma NfL and changes in outcomes. Results: Higher baseline plasma NfL was associated with greater rate of decline in ADAS-Cog from baseline to 6 months (standardized estimate of 0.00462, p = 0.02853) and in ADL from baseline to 12 months (standardized estimate of –0.00284, p = 0.03338). Greater increase in plasma NfL in short term from baseline to 3 months was associated with greater rate of decline in memory and ADL from 3 to 6 months (standardized estimate of –0.04638 [0.003], p = 0.01635; standardized estimate of –0.03818, p = 0.0435) and greater rate of decline in ADL from 3 to 12 month (standardized estimate of –0.01492, p = 0.01082). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that plasma NfL might have the potential to predict cognitive and function decline up to 12 months. However, future studies with bigger sample sizes need to confirm the findings.


1998 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Meins ◽  
Andrea Frey ◽  
Rüdiger Thiesemann

The purpose of this study was to examine whether premorbid personality traits predispose to noncognitive symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The Munich Personality Test was used to evaluate caregivers' perception of personality prior to symptom onset in 56 outpatients with probable AD. Caregivers also completed the “mood” and “disturbed behavior” scales of the Nurses' Observation Scale for Geriatric Patients. A neuropsychiatrist rated depressive symptoms on the Cornell Scale for Depression and the occurrence of personality change in four domains according to ICD-10. Under statistical control of confounding variables, results showed a moderate association between (high) premorbid neuroticism, subsequent troublesome behavior, and personality change, on the one hand, and (low) frustration tolerance and depression, on the other. Premorbid personality traits may indeed predispose to subsequent noncognitive symptoms in AD.


2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Regina Dowgan T. de Siqueira ◽  
Thaís de Souza Rolim ◽  
Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira ◽  
Ricardo Nitrini ◽  
Renato Anghinah ◽  
...  

Abstract Dental infections, frequent in the general population, are a common cause of inflammation with systemic impact, and are the most common cause of orofacial pain. Temporomandibular disorders are also frequent in the elderly and represent an important cause of secondary headache. Both inflammation and pain can also contribute to cognitive, functional and behavioral impairment of the elderly and aggravate symptoms of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). We report a case of a 74-year-old woman with AD and chronic facial pain who had a significant improvement in functional activities as well as in cognition and depressive symptoms after successful treatment of her facial pain. Patients with AD have higher compromise of oral health with infections and teeth loss. The investigation of orofacial pain should be performed in patients with AD, because of the associations reviewed and given the potential for improvement as highlighted by this case.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (S5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khazar Ahmadi ◽  
Joana B. Pereira ◽  
David Berron ◽  
Jacob W. Vogel ◽  
Silvia Ingala ◽  
...  

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