Less agreeable, better preserved? Lower Agreeableness is associated with better preservation of limbic area; aging-related hippocampal volume decrease is lower in elders with higher openness

Less agreeable, better preserved? A PET amyloid and MRI study in a community-based cohort. Panteleimon Giannakopoulos et al. Neurobiology of Aging, February 19 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.02.004

Highlights
•    Lower Agreeableness is associated with better preservation of limbic areas
•    Aging-related hippocampal volume decrease is lower in elders with higher openness
•    Personality impact on brain volume is independent of amyloid load and APOE genotype

Abstract: The relationship between personality profiles and brain integrity in old age is still matter of debate. We examined the association between Big Five factor and facet scores and MRI brain volume changes upon a 54-month follow-up in 65 elderly controls with three neurocognitive assessments (baseline, 18 and 54 months), structural brain MRI (baseline and 54 months), brain amyloid PET during follow-up, and APOE genotyping. Personality was assessed with the Neuroticism Extraversion Openness Personality Inventory-Revised. Regression models were used to identify predictors of volume loss including time, age, sex, personality, amyloid load, presence of APOE epsilon 4 allele and cognitive evolution. Lower agreeableness factor scores (and four of its facets) were associated with lower volume loss in hippocampus, entorhinal cortex, amygdala, mesial temporal lobe and precuneus bilaterally. Higher openness factor scores (and two of its facets) were also associated with lower volume loss in left hippocampus. Our findings persisted when adjusting for confounders in multivariable models. These data suggest that the combination of low agreeableness and high openness is an independent predictor of better preservation of brain volume in areas vulnerable to neurodegeneration.