Your personality might determine how well your brain deals with dementia, study says

I probably used up all my cognitive resilience just surviving my stroke. 

WHO THE FUCK IS GOING TO TELL ME EXACTLY HOW TO BUILD IT UP AGAIN TO HANDLE MY UPCOMING DEMENTIA?

Your personality might determine how well your brain deals with dementia, study says

A new study shows that personality type might be able to determine how well someone can live with dementia without suffering from the cognitive decline the disease causes.

Researchers from Northwestern University and the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago found that older adults with self-discipline, high achievement, organization, diligence and motivation are more equipped to live with diseases such as Alzheimer’s while maintaining healthy cognitive function.

The researchers call this “cognitive resilience,” according to the study published Sept. 24 in the Journals of Gerontology.

Meanwhile, individuals with dementia who are more anxious, worrisome, moody and impulsive were more likely to have poor cognitive function compared to their more positive counterparts.

The team says their findings can help medical professionals look for personality changes or types in older adults at risk of developing dementia-related diseases in an effort to provide early care for those at risk.

“These findings provide evidence that it is possible for older adults to live with the neuropathology associated with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias while maintaining relatively healthy levels of cognitive function,” study lead author Eileen Graham, a research assistant professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release.

Dementia is an umbrella term for several different diseases that affect memory, thinking and social abilities on a daily basis, according to MayoClinic. In addition to cognitive changes, there are other psychological ones such as depression, paranoia and personality changes.

A separate study published in January showed that teens who reported higher levels of “vigor,” physical activity, calmness and maturity were less likely to develop dementia 50 years later. The researchers analyzed 82,000 people who answered questions on their personality in 1960 and found that about 2,500 of them met the criteria for dementia by age 70.

The new study looked at personality traits of 1,375 older adults who already have a form of dementia. Participants answered annual psychological self-report surveys and donated their brains after death for study.

The researchers said there’s hope that tracking personality in older adults can be used to prevent or delay the onset of dementia because personality can change.

But how much can it change at old age?

Childhood and early adulthood experiences such as getting a new job, getting into an accident or getting married can change a person, but after age 30, the rate of change slows down and requires more effort, Paul Costa Jr., a behavioral scientist, told The Cut in 2014.

“It’s not that personality is fixed and can’t change,” Costa said. “But it’s relatively stable and consistent. What you see at 35, 40 is what you’re going to see at 85, 90.”