The Relation Between Personality and Biomarkers in Sensitivity and Conversion to Alzheimer-Type Dementia

Objectives: The present study explored relationships among personality, Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers, and dementia by addressing the following questions: (1) Does personality discriminate healthy aging and earliest detectable stage of AD? (2) Does personality predict conversion from healthy aging to early-stage AD? (3) Do AD biomarkers mediate any observed relationships between personality and dementia status/conversion? Methods: Both self- and informant ratings of personality were obtained in a large well-characterized longitudinal sample of cognitively normal older adults (N= 436) and individuals with early-stage dementia (N= 74). Biomarkers included amyloid imaging, hippocampal volume, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) A beta 42, and CSF tau. Results: Higher neuroticism, lower conscientiousness, along with all four biomarkers strongly discriminated cognitively normal controls from early-stage AD individuals. The direct effects of neuroticism and conscientiousness were only mediated by hippocampal volume. Conscientiousness along with all biomarkers predicted conversion from healthy aging to early-stage AD; however, none of the biomarkers mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and conversion. Conscientiousness predicted conversion as strongly as the biomarkers, with the exception of hippocampal volume. Conclusions: Conscientiousness and to a lesser extent neuroticism serve as important independent behavioral markers for AD risk.