Personality Traits are Related to Selective Cognitive Impairment in Early Alzheimer’s Disease

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Rouch, Isabelle^{a; b; *} | Padovan, Catherine^c | Pongan, Elodie^{a; b} | Boublay, Nawéle^b | Laurent, Bernard^{a; d} | Dorey, Jean-Michel^{c; e; 1} | Krolak-Salmon, Pierre^{b; e; 1}

Affiliations: [a] Memory Clinical and Research Center of Saint Etienne (CMRR), Neurology Unit, University Hospital of Saint Etienne, Saint Etienne, France | [b] Memory Clinical and Research Center of Lyon (CMRR), Aging Institute, University Hospital of Lyon, Lyon, France | [c] Aging Psychiatry Unit, University Hospital Le Vinatier, Bron, France | [d] Neuropain Team, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM, Lyon, France | [e] Brain Dynamics and Cognition, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center, INSERM, Lyon, France

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Isabelle Rouch, Memory Clinical and Research Center of Saint Etienne (CMRR), Neurology Unit, Hospital of Saint Etienne, Avenue Albert Raimond, 42055 Saint Etienne, France. Tel.: +33 4 77 12 73 98; Fax: +33 4 77 12 72 79; E-mail: isabelle.rouch@chu-st-etienne.fr.

Note: [1] These authors share senior authorship.

Abstract: Background:A link between personality traits and cognitive performance has been shown in normal adults and elderly individuals. Very few studies have evaluated this link in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Objective:To better understand cognitive performance as regards to personality traits, our study was aimed to evaluate the role of premorbid personality on cognitive functioning in a population of patients presenting prodromal or mild AD. Methods:181 elderly with prodromal or mild AD participated in a cross-sectional, prospective cohort study. The participants completed a personality inventory and a neuropsychological battery exploring memory, attention, executive function, language, and praxis. Cognitive performance were compared according to the level of each personality trait, using multivariate MANOVA models. Results:A higher level of neuroticism was associated with lower performance at similarities test (D = 9.49, p = 0.003), delayed Free and Cued Selective Reminding test (D = 5.22, p = 0.02), and digit span score (D = 7.99, p = 0.006). A higher level of openness was related to better performance at similarities (D = 4.33, p = 0.04), letter fluency (D = 11.45, p = 0.001), and category fluency test (D = 5.85, p = 0.02). Neuroticism interfered negatively with cognitive functioning at the prodromal stage; the association between openness and cognitive function was observed at both prodromal and mild AD stage. Conclusion:These results suggest that personality traits, in particular neuroticism and openness, modulate cognitive abilities in patients with early AD. These results encourage the development of stress management programs to prevent its negative effects on cognitive aging.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive function, neuroticism, openness, personality

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-190459

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 71, no. 4, pp. 1153-1162, 2019