According to new research, having specific personality traits might be connected to our risk of developing cognitive problems later on in life, and that in turn might point to better ways of treating issues like dementia.
A total of 1,954 volunteers without a formal diagnosis of dementia took part in the study, filling out personality questionnaires that were cross-checked against their health records and any cognitive problems as they got older. Organized and self-disciplined people were less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment than neurotic people.
The researchers have suspicions that there are fundamental aspects of biology behind the link, as this was a correlational study.
According to psychologist Tomiko Yoneda from the University of Victoria in Canada,Personality traits reflect relatively enduring patterns of thinking and behaving, which may cumulatively affect engagement in healthy and unhealthy behaviors and thought patterns across the lifespan.
The accumulated lifelong experiences may contribute to susceptibility of diseases or disorders, such as mild cognitive impairment, or contribute to individual differences in the ability to endure age-related neurological changes.
The Big Five are agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and extraversion. This study looked at the last three.
Being responsible, being well organized, and being goal oriented are some of the qualities of conscientiousness. A 6 point increase on the scale was associated with a 22 percent lower risk.
People who don't score highly for neuroticism are less likely to experience depression, anxiety, and self-doubt. A low neuroticism score matched a lower risk of cognitive impairment in later life, with 7 more points on the neuroticism scale equating to a 12 percent increased risk.
Extraverts tended to maintain normal cognitive functioning for longer when high conscientiousness or low neuroticism was present. Extraversion is a trait that involves enthusiasm for social interaction and directing energy towards people.
The researchers wrote in their published paper that personality traits are not associated with total longevity, but that they are associated with non-impaired cognitive health span.
The team did not find a link between personality traits and life expectancy, nor did they suggest that these characteristics are the cause of cognitive impairment.
Similar findings have been reported by researchers before, but there is still a lot of uncertainty about how these personality traits matter in terms of the timing of cognitive problems and how long certain characteristics might delay them for.
The study used almost 2,000 people, but it was dominated by White and female participants. In the future, studies could look at groups of participants that are larger and more diverse to improve on the findings.
The findings provide novel understanding of the simultaneous associations between personality traits and transitions between cognitive status categories and death, as well as cognitive health span and total longevity.
The research was published in a journal.
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