Subjects who do not have psychiatric disorders but score very high on a personality test pessimism or depression scale have a 30 percent increased risk of developing dementia several decades later.
The risk is even higher ( 40 percent more ) for individuals who score very high on both anxiety and pessimism scales.

Dementia is a neurological disorder that affects the ability to think, speak, reason, remember and move.
The three most common forms of dementia are Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and Lewy body dementia.

This study was designed to test more rigorously the findings of an earlier, exploratory study conducted at Mayo Clinic with a smaller sample of individuals that suggested pessimism, depression, anxiety and social introversion could be risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.

Yonas Geda, a neuropsychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, and colleagues conducted this study to determine what types of personality or cognitive style were associated with the development of dementia or cognitive impairment 30 or 40 years later.

Investigators extracted a sample of approximately 3,500 individuals living in and around Olmsted County, Minn., from 50,000 individuals who took the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory ( MMPI ) as part of a research project, not for psychiatric reasons, at Mayo Clinic between 1962 and 1965.
This test assesses thoughts, feelings, attitudes, physical and emotional symptoms, and life experiences.

In 2004, Geda and fellow investigators used a structured interview of the individuals, or a family member in the case of deceased or incapacitated persons, to arrive at a standard diagnosis of dementia or cognitive impairment.

Geda, who was blinded to the MMPI scores of the study subjects, then reviewed the results of these interviews.

The Mayo Clinic investigators believe that pessimism and depression are more likely to be risk factors for dementia rather than early manifestations of the disease.

Researchers advise some caution in determining if one's personality traits may predispose to dementia.

Contemporary studies indicate that ' personality ' is a modifiable cognitive, emotional and behavioral style.

Source: Mayo Clinic, 2005


XagenaMedicine2005