Older adults who are less likely to detect scams may be at an increased risk for developing dementia, finds a new study from researchers supported by the National Institute on Aging. The study, led by Patricia Boyle at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in Chicago, was published April 16 in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Scam awareness is a complex behavior that requires a variety of social cognitive abilities, including recognition that other people may have different intentions from yours, as well as awareness of others’ personality traits. The complexity of this behavior—particularly the need to integrate multiple abilities while managing a challenging social situation—may be the reason for its apparent status as an early harbinger of Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
The researchers measured scam awareness in 935 older adults without…
