A groundbreaking study led by researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences has revealed a connection between brain changes in older adults and their susceptibility to financial scams, which could be linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Nearly 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, making it the fifth leading cause of death for individuals aged 65 and older. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, the disease will incur an estimated $360 billion in health care costs this year alone.
Financial vulnerability and Alzheimer’s
The study, conducted by Duke Han, a professor of psychology and family medicine at USC Dornsife, aimed to explore the relationship between early Alzheimer’s changes in the brain and financial vulnerability. The research team used high-powered MRI scans to examine the brains of 97 participants aged 50 and older.
The researchers focused on the entorhinal cortex, a critical region that connects the hippocampus (responsible for learning and memory) to the medial prefrontal cortex (which regulates emotions, motivation, and cognitive functions). This area is one of the first to show changes in Alzheimer’s disease, often thinning as the condition progresses.
Participants in the study, ranging in age from 52 to 83, showed no clinical signs of cognitive impairment but underwent MRI scans to measure the thickness of their entorhinal cortex. Alongside the brain scans, the researchers used the Perceived Financial Exploitation Vulnerability Scale (PFVS) to assess the participants’ financial awareness and their susceptibility to poor financial decisions, a concept referred to as financial exploitation vulnerability (FEV).
Not a definitive indicator of Alzheimer’s
The study’s findings revealed a significant correlation between FEV and the thickness of the entorhinal cortex. Specifically, individuals who were more vulnerable to financial scams had a thinner entorhinal cortex. This relationship was most pronounced in participants aged 70 and older. Previous studies have also linked FEV to conditions like mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and changes in brain structure associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Duke Han emphasized the significance of these findings, suggesting that assessing financial vulnerability could serve as an early detection tool for cognitive decline. “Assessing financial vulnerability in older adults could help identify those who are in the early stages of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease,” Han said. However, he cautioned that financial vulnerability alone should not be used as a definitive indicator of Alzheimer’s or other cognitive decline. “But assessing FEV could become part of a broader risk profile,” he added.
Study limitations
Despite the promising results, Han acknowledged several limitations of the study. Most of the participants were older, white, highly educated women, which raises concerns about the generalizability of the findings to a more diverse population. Additionally, while the study found a link between entorhinal cortex thinning and FEV, it does not establish a causal relationship. Moreover, the research did not include direct measures of Alzheimer’s pathology, leaving open the possibility that other factors could explain the observed connection between FEV and brain changes.
Han stressed that more research, including long-term studies with diverse populations, is necessary before FEV can be considered a reliable tool for cognitive assessment. “We need further studies to confirm the findings and explore how financial vulnerability could help identify those at risk for Alzheimer’s,” he concluded.
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