title: Relationships between Personality Traits, Medial Temporal Lobe Atrophy, and White Matter Lesion in Subjects Suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment.
abstract: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a heterogeneous cognitive status that can be a prodromal stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). It is particularly relevant to focus on prodromal stages of AD such as MCI, because patho-physiological abnormalities of AD start years before the dementia stage. Medial temporal lobe (MTL) atrophy resulting from AD lesions and cerebrovascular lesions [i.e., white matter lesions (WML), lacunar strokes, and strokes] are often revealed concurrently on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in MCI subjects. Personality changes have been reported to be associated with MCI status and early AD. More specifically, an increase in neuroticism and a decrease in conscientiousness have been reported, suggesting that higher and lower scores, respectively, in neuroticism and conscientiousness are associated with an increased risk of developing the disease. However, personality changes have not been studied concomitantly with pathological structural brain alterations detected on MRI in patients suffering from MCI. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to assess the relationship between MTL atrophy, WML, lacunar strokes, and personality traits in such patients. The severity of WML was strongly associated with lower levels of conscientiousness and higher levels of neuroticism. Conversely, no association was detected between personality traits and the presence of lacunar strokes or MTL atrophy. Altogether, these results strongly suggest that personality changes occurring in a MCI population, at high risk of AD, are associated with WML, which can induce executive dysfunctions, rather than with MTL atrophy.
authors.affiliation: Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Broca, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris , Paris , France ; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Equipe d'Accueil 4468 , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duron
authors.affiliation: Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Broca, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris , Paris , France ; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Equipe d'Accueil 4468 , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Jean-Sébastien
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Vidal
authors.affiliation: UMRS 894 INSERM, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Samira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bounatiro
authors.affiliation: UMRS 894 INSERM, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Sana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ben Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Broca, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris , Paris , France ; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Equipe d'Accueil 4468 , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Marie-Laure
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Seux
authors.affiliation: Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Broca, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris , Paris , France ; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Equipe d'Accueil 4468 , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rigaud
authors.affiliation: Service de Gériatrie, Hôpital Broca, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris , Paris , France ; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Equipe d'Accueil 4468 , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hanon
authors.affiliation: UMRS 894 INSERM, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Viollet
authors.affiliation: UMRS 894 INSERM, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Epelbaum
authors.affiliation: UMRS 894 INSERM, Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurosciences, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité , Paris , France.
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martel
keywords: Alzheimer; WML; conscientiousness; leukoaraiosis; medial temporal lobe; mild cognitive impairment; neuroticism