Summary: A new study shows that learning about amyloid beta buildup — a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease — does not increase emotional distress, but motivation to maintain healthy habits declines over time. Healthy adults who learned they had no amyloid buildup reported reduced depression, anxiety, and memory concerns, yet also lost motivation to continue positive lifestyle changes.
Meanwhile, those with amyloid buildup experienced decreased anxiety but no rise in depression, though their motivation also waned. These findings highlight the need for strategies to sustain cognitive health behaviors, especially as preventive Alzheimer’s treatments become more likely in the future.
Key Facts:
- No Distress From Risk Disclosure: Learning amyloid status did not raise depression or anxiety levels.
- Motivation Declines Over Time: Both groups showed reduced motivation to maintain healthy lifestyle changes.
- Need for Long-Term Strategies: Sustaining positive behaviors after risk disclosure will be crucial as preventive therapies emerge.
Source: Rutgers
Learning about one’s risk for Alzheimer’s disease may not lead to emotional distress, but motivation to maintain healthy lifestyle changes tends to fade over time, even in people at high risk, according to a study involving a Rutgers Health researcher.
The study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, was written by Sapir Golan Shekhtman, a doctoral degree student at the Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center at the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, and led by Orit Lesman-Segev, a neuroradiologist at the Department of Diagnostic Imaging and researcher at the Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center, Sheba Medical Center in Israel, and co-authored by Michal Schnaider Beeri, director of the Herbert and Jacqueline Krieger Klein Alzheimer’s Research Center at the Rutgers Brain Health Institute.
A protein called amyloid beta in the brain is one of the core pathologies in Alzheimer’s disease. The buildup of amyloid plaques can be detected decades before symptoms appear. These plaques can be visualized and quantified by a positron emission tomography (PET) scan.
The researchers wanted to understand how people react emotionally to learning whether they have risk for cognitive decline.
The study followed 199 healthy adults who underwent amyloid PET scans to check their amyloid beta status. Before the scan, participants completed surveys measuring anxiety, depression, memory concerns and motivation for lifestyle adjustments. They conducted the same surveys six months after learning their results.
Results from the study show that participants who don’t have amyloid buildup experienced significant emotional improvements: They reported much lower levels of depression, anxiety and memory complaints.
However, their motivation to maintain lifestyle improvements also declined.
Conversely, participants with amyloid presence didn’t show increased depression or memory complaints but did experience a decrease in anxiety and motivation for lifestyle adjustments.
“The findings suggest that disclosing amyloid presence does not negatively affect participants, and simply knowing the results seems to decrease negative feelings overall,” said Schnaider Beeri.
This study provides new insight into how individuals emotionally respond to learning their amyloid status, an underexplored topic, the researchers said. It also involves disclosing amyloid status to cognitively healthy individuals, a practice that wasn’t common in previous studies.
The researchers added the study emphasizes individual differences in responses to disclosure, promoting a more personalized disclosure process.
“The results highlight how easily people lose motivation to make lifestyle changes aimed at maintaining cognitive health,” said Shekhtman. “Strategies to sustain these healthy behaviors are crucial.”
“These findings hold even greater significance in an era moving toward preventive Alzheimer’s Disease therapies,” said Lesman-Segev.
“When such treatments become available, cognitively normal individuals will likely undergo screening with Alzheimer’s biomarkers to qualify for targeted therapies. Therefore, it is essential to better understand the response to disclosure and optimize the disclosure process.”
About this Alzheimer’s disease research news
Author: Tongyue Zhang
Source: Rutgers
Contact: Tongyue Zhang – Rutgers
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Emotional response to amyloid beta status disclosure among research participants at high dementia risk” by Sapir Golan Shekhtman et al. Alzheimer’s & Dementia
Abstract
Emotional response to amyloid beta status disclosure among research participants at high dementia risk
INTRODUCTION
Amyloid beta (Aβ) can be detected in vivo years before Alzheimer’s disease (AD) symptom onset and, according to recent criteria, is sufficient for a biological diagnosis. This study evaluates emotional responses to Aβ status disclosure in cognitively normal individuals.
METHODS
Questionnaires were given before and 6 months after Aβ positron emission tomography results disclosure to assess anxiety and depression related to the possibility of an elevated result, subjective memory complaints, and motivation for risk-reduction behavior.
RESULTS
One hundred ninety-nine cognitively normal adults were included. Non-elevated Aβ status disclosure was associated with reductions in all emotional parameters compared to baseline (p < 0.001). Elevated Aβ disclosure was associated with no changes in depression or memory complaints and a modest decrease in anxiety and motivation to change lifestyle (p < 0.048).
DISCUSSION
No negative psychological effects were observed after Aβ status disclosure. Decreased motivation for lifestyle changes was seen after disclosure of both elevated and non-elevated amyloid status and should be targeted.
