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Generosity, Dementia & Financial Abuse

RESEARCH ARTICLE:

Researchers find that participants who gave away more money scored significantly lower on cognitive tests known to be sensitive to Alzheimer’s disease than those who gave less, in one of the first studies ever to test the relationship using real money. Learn more.


To help protect older adults from financial exploitation, researchers are working to understand who is most at risk.

The findings from a study conducted by the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Bar-Ilan University, recently published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, suggest that willingness to give away money could be linked to the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Measuring altruism vs. cognitive function

The study examined the relationship between altruism and cognitive functioning in a sample of older adults without dementia, utilizing a behavioral economic measure of financial altruism with real monetary outcomes.

Those who chose to give away more of their study earnings to an anonymous person demonstrated poorer performance on cognitive measures that are known to be sensitive to early Alzheimer’s disease.

Participants completed a series of cognitive and behavioral assessments.

The test

In the behavioral altruism assessment they were told that they could send a portion of their $10 study earnings to an anonymous person (Person B). They could send any amount between $0 and $10, and whatever they chose to keep would be added to their study earnings at the conclusion of the assessment.

Participants selected one of ten options in $1 increments ranging from $0 to $10. Thus, those who selected to send $0 to Person B could be considered least altruistic and those who selected to send $10 to Person B could be considered most altruistic. Participants also completed a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological assessments, including tests of memory, executive functioning, language, attention, and working memory.

Until now, studies have showed positive relationships between self-reported altruistic behavior and cognition. This study, however, observed the opposite pattern.

The researchers found that giving away more money was associated with worse cognitive performances on tests of word list learning and recall, delayed story recall, and semantic fluency (naming words belonging to a specific category), after accounting for age, education, and sex.

Giving more could be red flag

In an additional set of analyses, they divided the sample into three groups based on the amount of money they chose to give away.

Those who gave more to Person B than they kept for themselves were in the “Gave More” group. Those who gave less to Person B than they kept for themselves were in the “Gave Less” group. Those who kept $5 and gave away $5 were in the “Gave Equally” group.

The researchers found that the group who Gave More consisted of only individuals who gave all $10 to Person B. In general, the Gave More group demonstrated the lowest cognitive performances.

Financial decision-making reveals cognitive status

“Altruism plays an important role in financial decision making, a function critical for preventing financial exploitation.

“Additionally, a growing body of literature suggests that declines in financial decision making in older adulthood may be an early sign of adverse cognitive outcomes associated with Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Gali Weissberger, of the Interdisciplinary Department of Social Sciences at Bar-Ilan University, who conducted the study together with principal investigator Prof. Duke Han, of the University of Southern California.

“The findings of this study provide insights into how some adults may become vulnerable to financial exploitation in older age,” she adds.

SOURCE:

REFERENCE:

  • Weissberger, Gali H. et al. ‘Increased Financial Altruism Is Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease Neurocognitive Profile in Older Adults’. 1 Jan. 2022 : 1 – 11.

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P. Berger

This site was inspired by my Mom’s autoimmune dementia.

It is a place where we separate out the wheat from the chafe, the important articles & videos from each week’s river of news. Google gets a new post on Alzheimer’s or dementia every 7 minutes. That can overwhelm anyone looking for help. This site filters out, focuses on and offers only the best information. it has helped hundreds of thousands of people since it debuted in 2007. Thanks to our many subscribers for your supportive feedback.

The site is dedicated to all those preserving the dignity of the community of people living with dementia.

Peter Berger, Editor

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This site was inspired by my Mom’s autoimmune dementia.

It is a place where we separate out the wheat from the chafe, the important articles & videos from each week’s river of news. Google gets a new post on Alzheimer’s or dementia every 7 minutes. That can overwhelm anyone looking for help. This site filters out, focuses on and offers only the best information. it has helped hundreds of thousands of people since it debuted in 2007. Thanks to our many subscribers for your supportive feedback.

The site is dedicated to all those preserving the dignity of the community of people living with dementia.

Peter Berger, Editor

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This site was inspired by my Mom’s autoimmune dementia.

It is a place where we separate out the wheat from the chafe, the important articles & videos from each week’s river of news. Google gets a new post on Alzheimer’s or dementia every 7 minutes. That can overwhelm anyone looking for help. This site filters out, focuses on and offers only the best information. It has helped hundreds of thousands of people since it debuted in 2007. Thanks to our many subscribers for your supportive feedback.

The site is dedicated to all those preserving the dignity of the community of people living with dementia.

Peter Berger, Editor

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