People who are conscientious, outgoing and have a positive outlook are less likely to develop dementia, according to new analysis.
Experts have discovered that certain personality traits appear to be linked to a lower risk of the disease, which affects more than 6million American and nearly one million people in the UK.
Researchers analyzed data from eight studies involving more than 44,000 people aged between 49 and 81.
They were followed for up to 21 years, during which 1,703 developed dementia.
People who are conscientious and have a positive outlook are less likely to develop dementia (stock image)
The researchers looked at measures of the ‘big five’ personality traits – conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, neuroticism and agreeableness.
They also focused on wellbeing, for example how satisfied people reported being with their lives and whether they had a positive or negative outlook.
Analysis revealed that people who were more conscientious, for example taking care to do things carefully and correctly, who were extroverts or had a positive outlook were less likely to be diagnosed with dementia.
Some studies also found that participants who scored highly on being open to new experiences, being agreeable and life satisfaction appeared to have some form of protection against the disease.
Meanwhile, those who scored highly for neuroticism and who had more of a negative ‘affect’ – for example having greater feelings of anger, anxiety, guilt or fear – were at higher risk of being diagnosed with dementia.
To the scientists’ surprise, however, there was no link found between these personality traits and actual changes in the brains of people after they died.
Emorie Beck, a researcher at the University of California, Davis, and first author of the study, said: ‘This was the most surprising finding to us.
‘If personality is predictive of performance on cognitive tests but not pathology, what might be happening?’
Personality is typically thought to be linked to dementia risk through behaviour, the team suggested.
For example, people who score high on conscientiousness may be more likely to eat well and take care of their health, which results in better health in the long term.
Another explanation could be that some personality traits could make people more resilient to the damage caused by diseases such as Alzheimer’s, they said.
People with higher levels of some traits may find ways, whether they are aware of it or not, to cope with and work around impairments.
The team recommended incorporating psychological trait measures into clinical screening or the criteria followed for a dementia diagnosis.
The findings were published in published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal
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