A first-of-its-kind study conducted by researchers at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences found that older adults who are more vulnerable to financial scams may have brain changes 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 among those age 65 and older. The disease is also projected to have health care costs totaling $360 billion this year alone, as reported by the Alzheimer’s Association. The researchers, led by Duke Han, professor of psychology and family medicine at USC Dornsife, used high-powered MRI to examine the brains of 97 study participants over the age of 50 in an effort to better understand the connection between early Alzheimer’s disease and financial vulnerability.
The researchers focused on the entorhinal cortex, a brain region that acts as a relay station between the hippocampus, responsible for learning and memory, and the medial prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotion, motivation, and other cognitive functions. Changes in the entorhinal cortex are often among the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease, with the region typically becoming thinner as the disease progresses. The study participants, aged 52 to 83, did not show clinical signs of cognitive impairment but underwent MRI scans to measure the thickness of their entorhinal cortex. In addition, the researchers used a standardized tool called the Perceived Financial Exploitation Vulnerability Scale (PFVS) to assess the participants’ financial awareness and susceptibility to poor financial decisions, referred to as financial exploitation vulnerability (FEV).
The study found a significant correlation between those more vulnerable to financial scams and a thinner entorhinal cortex, particularly among participants aged 70 and older. Previous research has linked FEV to mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and certain molecular brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Han believes that assessing financial vulnerability in older adults could help identify those in the early stages of cognitive decline, including Alzheimer’s disease, though he acknowledges that financial vulnerability alone is not a definitive indicator of Alzheimer’s disease. Instead, he suggests that assessing FEV could become a part of a broader risk profile for cognitive decline in older adults.
Han also acknowledged several limitations of the study, including the lack of diversity among participants, making it challenging to generalize the findings. Additionally, while a link between entorhinal cortex thickness and FEV was found, it does not prove causation, and specific measures of Alzheimer’s disease pathology were not included in the study. This leaves the possibility open that other factors could explain the relationship between FEV and entorhinal cortex thinning. Han emphasized the need for further research, including long-term studies with diverse populations, before FEV can be considered a reliable cognitive assessment tool in clinical settings.