Becca R Levy1,2, Martin D Slade3, Robert H Pietrzak4,5, Luigi Ferrucci6. 1. Social and Behavioral Sciences Department, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut. 2. Psychology Department, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. 3. Department of Internal Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. 4. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, West Haven, Connecticut. 5. Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut. 6. Longitudinal Studies Section, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Most studies of aging cognition have focused on risk factors for worse performance and on either genetic or environmental factors. In contrast, we examined whether 2 factors known to individually benefit aging cognition may interact to produce better cognition: environment-based positive age beliefs and the APOE ε2 gene. METHOD: The sample consisted of 3,895 Health and Retirement Study participants who were 60 years or older at baseline and completed as many as 5 assessments of cognition over 8 years. RESULTS: As predicted, positive age beliefs amplified the cognitive benefit of APOE ε2. In contrast, negative age beliefs suppressed the cognitive benefit of APOE ε2. We also found that positive age beliefs contributed nearly 15 times more than APOE ε2 to better cognition. DISCUSSION: This study provides the first known evidence that self-perceptions can influence the impact of a gene on cognition. The results underscore the importance of combined psychosocial and biological approaches to understanding cognitive function in older adults.
OBJECTIVES: Most studies of aging cognition have focused on risk factors for worse performance and on either genetic or environmental factors. In contrast, we examined whether 2 factors known to individually benefit aging cognition may interact to produce better cognition: environment-based positive age beliefs and the APOE ε2 gene. METHOD: The sample consisted of 3,895 Health and Retirement Study participants who were 60 years or older at baseline and completed as many as 5 assessments of cognition over 8 years. RESULTS: As predicted, positive age beliefs amplified the cognitive benefit of APOE ε2. In contrast, negative age beliefs suppressed the cognitive benefit of APOE ε2. We also found that positive age beliefs contributed nearly 15 times more than APOE ε2 to better cognition. DISCUSSION: This study provides the first known evidence that self-perceptions can influence the impact of a gene on cognition. The results underscore the importance of combined psychosocial and biological approaches to understanding cognitive function in older adults.
Authors: Becca R Levy; Alan B Zonderman; Martin D Slade; Luigi Ferrucci Journal: J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci Date: 2011-11-04 Impact factor: 4.077
Authors: Elizabeth E Blue; Andréa R V R Horimoto; Shubhabrata Mukherjee; Ellen M Wijsman; Timothy A Thornton Journal: Alzheimers Dement Date: 2019-10-09 Impact factor: 21.566