Fell for a financial scam? Might be time to test for Alzheimer's

Elaine Silvestrini, Kiplinger’s Consumer News Service on Oct 30, 2024

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Changes in the brain linked to a risk of Alzheimer’s disease may also make some older adults vulnerable to financial scams, according to new research. Alzheimer’s patients can become targets for various forms of financial exploitation, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. These scams include robbery, purse snatching, car theft, home repair scams, phone solicitors and even burglars.

According to the National Institute on Aging, problems managing money and with financial decision-making in general may be among the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Now, the new research suggests that vulnerability to scams may emerge before Alzheimer’s symptoms appear. A study at the University of Southern California’s Dornsife College examined subjects who showed no signs of clinical impairment.

Financial scam vulnerability

The researchers focused on a region of the brain that acts as a relay station between the hippocampus — the brain’s learning and memory center — and the medial prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotion, motivation and other cognitive functions. The researchers used a high-powered MRI to examine the brains of 97 study participants, ages 52 to 83, focusing on the thickness of this region, known as the entorhinal cortex. According to the researchers, thinning of the entorhinal cortex is often the first sign of changes caused by Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers also used a standardized tool called a Perceived Financial Exploitation Vulnerability Scale to assess the participants’ financial awareness and their susceptibility to poor financial decisions, which they term “financial exploitation vulnerability,” or FEV.

Those subjects deemed more vulnerable to financial scams had a thinner entorhinal cortex, especially those aged 70 and older. Previous research has linked FEV to mild cognitive impairment, dementia and molecular brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s.

Study leader Duke Han, professor of psychology and family medicine, says the findings provide evidence supporting the idea that FEV could eventually become a new clinical tool that could be used to contribute to a broader risk profile that could help detect cognitive changes in older adults — changes that are often difficult to detect. “Assessing financial vulnerability in older adults could help identify those who are in the early stages of mild cognitive impairment or dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease,” Han says, adding that financial vulnerability alone is not a definitive indicator of Alzheimer’s disease or other cognitive decline.

Study limitations

Han also notes several limitations of the study, which was supported by grants from the National Institute of Aging. For example, the study doesn’t prove a link between entorhinal cortex thickness and FEV. Moreover, the study participants were mostly older, educated White women, and it’s not clear the findings could be applied to a broader population. Consequently, Hann suggested further research on more diverse populations is needed before FEV can be considered a reliable cognitive assessment tool.

(Elaine Silvestrini is senior retirement editor at Kiplinger.com.)