STAY POSITIVE TO WARD OFF DEMENTIA

Repetitive negative thinking is an important marker of dementia risk, according to a new study. Researchers found that chronic negative thinking is associated with faster cognitive decline and deposition of harmful brain proteins linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

“Depression and anxiety in mid-life and old age are already known to be risk factors for dementia,” Natalie Marchant, lead author, said in a University College London press release. “Here, we found that certain thinking patterns implicated in depression and anxiety could be an underlying reason why people with those disorders are more likely to develop dementia.”

Marchant said the evidence did not suggest “short-term setbacks would increase one’s risk of dementia.”

She hopes the team’s findings are useful in developing strategies to reduce dementia risk by helping people lower their negative thinking patterns.

More than 300 older adults were involved in the study, and over the course of two years, they reported how they typically respond to negative experiences. The questions were geared toward repetitive negative thinking patterns, such as rumination and worry. A portion of participants (113) underwent brain scans measuring deposits of tau and amyloid, two proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease when they accumulate in the brain.

Study authors concluded that those who demonstrated higher repetitive negative thinking patterns experienced more cognitive decline over a four-year period. These individuals were also more likely to have the harmful brain deposits.

While depression and anxiety may necessitate medication (like antidepressants) for some, perhaps meditation could work for others, Dr Helen Kales, a professor and chair of the psychiatry department at the University of California, Davis, told Healthline.