Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA.
Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2020 Dec;14(6):2122-2131. doi: 10.1007/s11682-019-00163-y.
Personality traits such as Neuroticism and Conscientiousness are associated with Alzheimer disease (AD) pathophysiology in cognitively normal (CN) and impaired individuals, and may represent potential risk or resilience factors, respectively. This study examined the cross-sectional relationship between personality traits and regional tau deposition using positron emission tomography (PET) in cognitively normal older adults. A cohort of CN (Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) 0, n = 128) older adults completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to assess traits of Neuroticism, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and underwent tau-PET and β-amyloid (Aβ)-PET imaging. We utilized linear regression models, adjusting for age, sex, geriatric depression score, and Aβ to evaluate the association between each of the personality traits and regional tau-PET accumulation. Elevated Neuroticism scores were associated with higher tau-PET accumulation in the amygdala (p = .002), entorhinal cortex (p = .012), and inferior temporal cortex (p = .016), as well as with a composite tau-PET measure (p = .002). In contrast, Extroversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were not associated with tau deposition in any of these regions (p's > 0.160). Our results indicate that increased Neuroticism is associated with higher tau pathophysiology in regions known to be vulnerable to AD pathophysiology in CN participants. High Neuroticism scores may therefore serve as a potential risk factor for tau accumulation. Alternatively, personality can change with the onset of AD, thus increased tau levels may affect Neuroticism scores. While future longitudinal studies are needed to determine directionality, our findings suggest early associations between Neuroticism and tau accumulation in CN adults.
人格特质，如神经质和尽责性，与认知正常（CN）和认知障碍个体的阿尔茨海默病（AD）病理生理学相关，分别代表潜在的风险或弹性因素。本研究使用正电子发射断层扫描（PET）检查认知正常老年人的人格特质与区域 tau 沉积之间的横断面关系。一组认知正常（临床痴呆评定量表（CDR）0，n=128）老年人完成了 NEO 五因素量表，以评估神经质、外向性、开放性、宜人性和尽责性特质，并进行了 tau-PET 和β-淀粉样蛋白（Aβ）-PET 成像。我们利用线性回归模型，调整年龄、性别、老年抑郁评分和 Aβ，以评估每个人格特质与区域 tau-PET 积累之间的关联。神经质得分升高与杏仁核（p=0.002）、内嗅皮质（p=0.012）和下颞叶皮质（p=0.016）tau-PET 积累以及 tau-PET 综合测量值（p=0.002）升高相关。相比之下，外向性、开放性、宜人性和尽责性与这些区域中的任何一个区域的 tau 沉积均无相关性（p 值>0.160）。我们的结果表明，神经质增加与认知正常参与者中易受 AD 病理生理学影响的区域的更高 tau 病理生理学相关。因此，高神经质分数可能是 tau 积累的潜在风险因素。或者，人格可能会随着 AD 的发生而改变，因此 tau 水平的升高可能会影响神经质分数。虽然需要进一步的纵向研究来确定方向，但我们的发现表明在认知正常的成年人中，神经质与 tau 积累之间存在早期关联。
