This is a surprising connection.
Recent research indicates that changes in the brain associated with early Alzheimer’s disease may be linked to a heightened susceptibility to financial scams. Duke Han, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychology and family medicine at the University of Southern California, suggests that evaluating financial vulnerability in older adults could help identify individuals in the early stages of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, including Alzheimer’s.
Fraudsters often target seniors through phone calls or emails with scams that can sometimes deplete their retirement savings. The study highlights that early-onset dementia can make seniors more susceptible to these deceitful schemes.
The USC research team conducted two types of assessments with 97 participants over the age of 50, none of whom displayed obvious cognitive issues at the start of the study. One of the tests involved high-resolution MRIs to examine the thickness of the entorhinal cortex, a brain region crucial for communication between the hippocampus (important for learning and memory) and the medial prefrontal cortex (which manages emotion and motivation).
Previous studies have shown that early Alzheimer’s disease often leads to a thinning of the entorhinal cortex, which becomes more pronounced as the disease progresses. Participants also completed a test on the Perceived Financial Exploitation Vulnerability Scale (PFVS), which assesses the likelihood of falling victim to financial scams.
The results revealed that individuals with lower PFVS scores, indicating greater vulnerability to financial exploitation, had a thinner entorhinal cortex. This correlation was notably stronger in individuals aged 70 and older. While the study was not designed to prove causation, Han suggested that evaluating financial vulnerability might provide a new approach to detecting Alzheimer’s at an earlier stage, potentially integrating into a broader risk assessment for the disease.
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