TY - JOUR
T1 - Associations Between Personality Traits and Cognitive Resilience in Older Adults
AU - Graham, Eileen K.
AU - James, Bryan D.
AU - Jackson, Kathryn L.
AU - Willroth, Emily C.
AU - Boyle, Patricia
AU - Wilson, Robert
AU - Bennett, David A.
AU - Mroczek, Daniel K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].
PY - 2021/1/1
Y1 - 2021/1/1
N2 - OBJECTIVES: The goal of this paper was to examine associations between personality traits and resilience to neuropathologic burden. METHOD: Using data from the Religious Orders Study and the Rush Memory and Aging Project, we identified a total of 1,375 participants with personality, cognitive, and post-mortem neuropathology data. We regressed cognition onto pathology and extracted the residuals as an indicator of cognitive resilience. We then modeled the effect of Big Five personality traits on cognitive resilience, adjusting for demographics, APOE status, medical comorbidities, and cognitive activity. The analytic plan was preregistered prior to data access or analysis, and all scripts and outputs are available online. RESULTS: Higher neuroticism was associated with greater vulnerability to pathology. Results from exploratory analyses suggest that higher conscientiousness was associated with less cognitive decline relative to the amount of pathology, or greater resilience. Education and cognitive activity did not moderate these associations. DISCUSSION: Personality may have a pathoplastic effect on neuropathology, as low neuroticism and high conscientiousness are associated with better function despite neuropathologic burden.
AB - OBJECTIVES: The goal of this paper was to examine associations between personality traits and resilience to neuropathologic burden. METHOD: Using data from the Religious Orders Study and the Rush Memory and Aging Project, we identified a total of 1,375 participants with personality, cognitive, and post-mortem neuropathology data. We regressed cognition onto pathology and extracted the residuals as an indicator of cognitive resilience. We then modeled the effect of Big Five personality traits on cognitive resilience, adjusting for demographics, APOE status, medical comorbidities, and cognitive activity. The analytic plan was preregistered prior to data access or analysis, and all scripts and outputs are available online. RESULTS: Higher neuroticism was associated with greater vulnerability to pathology. Results from exploratory analyses suggest that higher conscientiousness was associated with less cognitive decline relative to the amount of pathology, or greater resilience. Education and cognitive activity did not moderate these associations. DISCUSSION: Personality may have a pathoplastic effect on neuropathology, as low neuroticism and high conscientiousness are associated with better function despite neuropathologic burden.
KW - Big Five personality
KW - Cognitive resilience
KW - Individual differences
KW - Neuropathology
KW - Preregistration
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85099073530
U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gbaa135
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gbaa135
M3 - Article
C2 - 32969474
AN - SCOPUS:85099073530
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 76
SP - 6
EP - 19
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 1
ER -