INS NYC 2024 Program

Poster	Poster Session 04 Program Schedule 02/15/2024 12:00 pm - 01:15 pm Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60) Poster Session 04: Neuroimaging \| Neurostimulation/Neuromodulation \| Teleneuropsychology/Technology Final Abstract #35 Lower Cortical Thickness in Brain Regions Vulnerable to Early Alzheimer’s Disease is Associated with Greater Scam Susceptibility in Older Adults Laura Fenton, Department of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Los Angeles, United States Lauren Salminen, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, United States Aaron Lim, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Gali Weissberger, The Department of Social and Health Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Raman Gat, Israel Annie Nguyen, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, UC San Diego, La Jolla, United States Jenna Axelrod, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Daisy Noriega-Makarskyy, Department of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Los Angeles, United States Jennifer Herrera, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Nathan Wei, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Elizabeth Erdman, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States S. Han, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States Category: Dementia (Alzheimer's Disease) Keyword 1: dementia - Alzheimer's disease Keyword 2: neuroimaging: structural Objective: Previous evidence suggests that increased scam susceptibility and financial vulnerability are early behavioral manifestations of brain changes occurring in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A pattern of lower cortical thickness in temporal parietal brain regions (i.e., an AD cortical signature) has been identified in asymptomatic, amyloid-positive individuals and those with mild AD, yet no study has examined the link between this cortical thinning pattern and scam susceptibility and financial vulnerability Here we addressed this gap and hypothesized that greater subjectively reported scam susceptibility and perceived financial vulnerability would be associated with lower cortical thickness in an AD cortical signature region measure. Secondarily, we investigated the association between the AD cortical signature measure and neuropsychological performances on tests sensitive to early AD in older adults without significant cognitive impairment. Participants and Methods: The sample consisted of 41 older adults (mean age = 68.27±6.20; mean education = 16.54±2.36; 83% female; 89% White, 7% Asian, 2% Black, 2% Other). Scam susceptibility was characterized using a validated 5-item self-report measure that assesses the tendency to engage in behaviors associated with victimization. Perceived financial vulnerability was characterized using a validated 6-item self-report measure derived from the Lichtenberg Financial Rating Scale. Neuropsychological measures included tests that tap temporal lobe functions vulnerable to AD including the CVLT-II Long Delay Free Recall, the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT), and category fluency (animals total score; vegetables total score). Brain structural MRI estimates of cortical thickness were acquired on a 7 Tesla scanner and processed using FreeSurfer-v.7.2.0. The AD cortical signature measure consisted of thickness in the bilateral entorhinal, parahippocampal, inferior temporal, temporal pole, superior parietal, supramarginal, and precuneus regions. Associations between scam susceptibility and perceived financial vulnerability and the AD cortical signature measure were tested using linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, education, and performance on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE). Models for neuropsychological measures were adjusted for age, sex, and education. Results: Lower thickness of the AD cortical signature measure was associated with significantly greater scam susceptibility (β = -1.00, SE = 0.44, p = 0.03) and trended towards an association with greater perceived financial vulnerability (β = -0.52, SE = 0.29, p = 0.08). No significant relationships were observed between the AD cortical signature measure and performance on the CVLT-II Long Delay Free Recall, the MINT, or category fluency. Conclusions: Results showed that lower cortical thickness in regions implicated in early AD are associated with increased scam susceptibility and potentially associated with increased perception of financial vulnerability, even before cognitive changes are detected on traditional neuropsychological tests. This supports the notion that financial vulnerability may be an early behavioral manifestation of preclinical AD. It will be important to validate this finding in longitudinal studies involving larger, more representative samples.

Poster

02/15/2024
12:00 pm - 01:15 pm
Room: Shubert Complex (Posters 1-60)

Poster Session 04: Neuroimaging | Neurostimulation/Neuromodulation | Teleneuropsychology/Technology

Final Abstract #35

Lower Cortical Thickness in Brain Regions Vulnerable to Early Alzheimer’s Disease is Associated with Greater Scam Susceptibility in Older Adults

Laura Fenton, Department of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Los Angeles, United States
Lauren Salminen, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, United States
Aaron Lim, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
Gali Weissberger, The Department of Social and Health Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Raman Gat, Israel
Annie Nguyen, Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, UC San Diego, La Jolla, United States
Jenna Axelrod, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
Daisy Noriega-Makarskyy, Department of Psychology, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, Los Angeles, United States
Jennifer Herrera, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
Nathan Wei, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
Elizabeth Erdman, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States
S. Han, Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Alhambra, United States

Category: Dementia (Alzheimer's Disease)

Keyword 1: dementia - Alzheimer's disease
Keyword 2: neuroimaging: structural

Objective:

Previous evidence suggests that increased scam susceptibility and financial vulnerability are early behavioral manifestations of brain changes occurring in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). A pattern of lower cortical thickness in temporal parietal brain regions (i.e., an AD cortical signature) has been identified in asymptomatic, amyloid-positive individuals and those with mild AD, yet no study has examined the link between this cortical thinning pattern and scam susceptibility and financial vulnerability Here we addressed this gap and hypothesized that greater subjectively reported scam susceptibility and perceived financial vulnerability would be associated with lower cortical thickness in an AD cortical signature region measure. Secondarily, we investigated the association between the AD cortical signature measure and neuropsychological performances on tests sensitive to early AD in older adults without significant cognitive impairment.

Participants and Methods:

The sample consisted of 41 older adults (mean age = 68.27±6.20; mean education = 16.54±2.36; 83% female; 89% White, 7% Asian, 2% Black, 2% Other). Scam susceptibility was characterized using a validated 5-item self-report measure that assesses the tendency to engage in behaviors associated with victimization. Perceived financial vulnerability was characterized using a validated 6-item self-report measure derived from the Lichtenberg Financial Rating Scale. Neuropsychological measures included tests that tap temporal lobe functions vulnerable to AD including the CVLT-II Long Delay Free Recall, the Multilingual Naming Test (MINT), and category fluency (animals total score; vegetables total score). Brain structural MRI estimates of cortical thickness were acquired on a 7 Tesla scanner and processed using FreeSurfer-v.7.2.0. The AD cortical signature measure consisted of thickness in the bilateral entorhinal, parahippocampal, inferior temporal, temporal pole, superior parietal, supramarginal, and precuneus regions. Associations between scam susceptibility and perceived financial vulnerability and the AD cortical signature measure were tested using linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, education, and performance on the Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE). Models for neuropsychological measures were adjusted for age, sex, and education.

Results:

Lower thickness of the AD cortical signature measure was associated with significantly greater scam susceptibility (β = -1.00, SE = 0.44, p = 0.03) and trended towards an association with greater perceived financial vulnerability (β = -0.52, SE = 0.29, p = 0.08). No significant relationships were observed between the AD cortical signature measure and performance on the CVLT-II Long Delay Free Recall, the MINT, or category fluency.

Conclusions:

Results showed that lower cortical thickness in regions implicated in early AD are associated with increased scam susceptibility and potentially associated with increased perception of financial vulnerability, even before cognitive changes are detected on traditional neuropsychological tests. This supports the notion that financial vulnerability may be an early behavioral manifestation of preclinical AD. It will be important to validate this finding in longitudinal studies involving larger, more representative samples.